scratch a living
Eke out existence
To scratch a living is to earn just enough to survive, with difficulty and persistent effort.
The image is of scraping together bare necessities through hard work: He scratched a living as a farmhand.
Sometimes scratch out a living: They scratched out a living selling goods at the market.
- get alongMaintain friendly relations
- scrape bySurvive with minimal resources
- make doManage with insufficient resources
- get bySurvive with minimal resources
- scrape alongManage with difficulty
scuffle · live paycheck to paycheck · make ends meet · hand-to-mouth · day to day · subsistence · drudgery · hustle · low-income · tight budget · grind · impoverishment · hard times · scavenging · survive · frugality · struggle · working poor
economic prosperity
scratch a livingthrive
Flourish with vigor
prosper · flourish · strike it rich · make a fortune · rake it in
scratch, scratched, scratching, scratches, scratchy, scratchiness, living, lively, livelihood