making a living
Supporting oneself financially
Making a living is earning enough money to support oneself—covering basic expenses like food, housing, and bills.
The phrase often carries a sense of modest sufficiency rather than wealth: He makes a living as a carpenter.
Someone who asks What do you do for a living? wants to know your occupation.
The phrase can suggest honest work or bare survival: It's not glamorous, but it's a living.
- bread and butterPrimary source of income
- putting food on the tableProviding basic necessities
- employmentPaid occupation status
- incomeRegular monetary receipts
- jobPaid position of employment
nine to five · daily grind · rat race · subsistence · profession · occupation · salary · homesteading · vocation · artistry · craftsmanship · labor · blue collar · working class · work · freelancing · startup · trade
making a livingleisure
Free time for relaxation
recreation · playing · labor of love · dabbling · killing time
making a livingunemployment
Being without paid work
not working · idleness · retirement · joblessness · destitution