eke

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ik/ UK /iːk/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to make something last by using it sparingly or with effort

They managed to eke out a living on the rocky farmland.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to make something last by... supplement stretch husband scrape manage

Opposites

squander waste

Word family

Forms ekedeking

Related forms eke-namenickname

Etymology

From Old English ēcan, īecan ('to increase, augment'), from the same root as Latin augēre ('to increase'); the modern sense 'make last by frugality' is from the phrase 'eke out'.

ēacian Old English *aukaną Proto-Germanic *h₂ewg- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# eke

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ik/
**IPA (UK):** /iːk/

## Meanings
1. to make something last by using it sparingly or with effort

## Examples
- They managed to eke out a living on the rocky farmland.

## Synonyms
- supplement
- stretch
- husband
- scrape
- manage

## Antonyms
- squander
- waste

## Related Forms
- eke-name
- nickname

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ēacian
- Root: *aukaną
- Root: *h₂ewg-

## Etymology
From Old English ēcan, īecan ('to increase, augment'), from the same root as Latin augēre ('to increase'); the modern sense 'make last by frugality' is from the phrase 'eke out'.

## AI Etymology
Eke comes from Old English ēcan, īecan ('to increase, augment'), from the same root as Latin augēre ('to increase'); the modern sense 'make last by frugality' is from the phrase 'eke out'. The development is chiefly inherited within English and its older relatives, with the later form continuing material already present in the language's ancestry. In present use, it is used as a verb meaning "to make something last by using it sparingly or with effort", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes related forms such as eke-name and nickname, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. The named historical forms include Old English ēacian, Proto-Germanic *aukaną, and Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg-, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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eke