Definition

1. Intransitive Verb:
   • To manage to survive or cope with limited resources: To succeed in dealing with a difficult situation, especially with minimal or insufficient means.
   • To be acceptable or adequate: To be just good enough to be acceptable or to pass without being noticed or criticized.
   • To pass or move past: To move past someone or something, often with some difficulty or in a narrow space.

Usage and Examples

• To manage or cope:

  • With careful budgeting, they can get by on one salary.
  • My Spanish isn't perfect, but it's enough to get by when I travel.

• To be acceptable or passable:

  • The work isn't excellent, but it will get by for now.
  • He thinks his old coat can still get by for another winter.

• To move past:

  • The corridor was so narrow I could barely get by.
  • She tried to get by the guard without showing her pass.

Advanced Usage

• "to get by (on/with something)": To manage with a limited amount of something.

  • How do you get by on so little sleep?
  • We'll have to get by with the old equipment until the new shipment arrives.

• "to get by (without something)": To manage in the absence of something.

  • I don't know how she gets by without a car in this city.

Variants and Related Words

• Getaway (n): An escape or quick departure, often after a crime.
  • The thieves made their getaway in a stolen car.
• Get-at-able (adj, informal): Accessible.
  • The files are kept in a get-at-able location.

Synonyms

• Manage: To succeed in dealing with something.
• Cope: To deal effectively with something difficult.
• Scrape by: To manage with great difficulty, especially financially.
• Pass muster: To be accepted as satisfactory or adequate.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Get along: To manage or fare in a situation; also, to have a harmonious relationship.
  • How are you getting along in your new job?
• Get through: To survive or endure a difficult experience or period.
  • It was a tough year, but we got through it.

Related Idioms

• Make ends meet: To have just enough money to pay for one's basic needs.
  • With prices rising, it's hard to make ends meet.
• Scrape through: To just barely succeed or pass.
  • He scraped through the exam with a grade of 61%.

Verb

1. escape potentially unpleasant consequences; get away with a forbidden action
   • She gets away with murder!
   • I couldn't get out from under these responsibilities
2. pass or move in front of
   • Bride's Biscuit got by the other dogs to win the race
3. come to terms with
   • We got by on just a gallon of gas
   • They made do on half a loaf of bread every day