scratch by

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English

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Etymology

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From scratch +‎ by.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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scratch by (third-person singular simple present scratches by, present participle scratching by, simple past and past participle scratched by)

  1. (idiomatic) To get by; make ends meet
    • 2017, Elizabeth Warren, This Fight Is Our Fight: The Battle to Save America's Middle Class:
      It all works great for Walmart or the food-service company, but for people like Gina and her friend Nicole, it means they can barely scratch by.

Synonyms

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