scrape by

verb

scraped by; scraping by; scrapes by
1
: to live with barely enough money : to be able to buy only the things most needed
Money was tight, but we somehow managed to scrape by.
2
: to succeed at doing something but just barely
He didn't study for the exam and just barely scraped by.

Examples of scrape by in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Many mathematicians have stopped posting open conjectures and potential ideas at the end of their papers, for fear that they’ll be scraped by bots and fed into AI models. — Jordana Cepelewicz, Quanta Magazine, 5 Oct. 2026 Their scaly skins are very rough – as anyone who'd had the bad luck to be scraped by a shark can tell you. — New Atlas, 28 Sep. 2026 The surreal French film Delicatessen, cowritten and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amélie) and Marc Caro, points its off-kilter lens at the oddball residents of an apartment building that’s scraping by post-apocalypse. — Sara Netzley, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Sep. 2026 Freed from the high pressure’s influence, Lowell is making a dramatic right turn — swinging north to scrape by Hawaii’s western islands. — Tyler Ory, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for scrape by

Rhymes for scrape by

See All Rhymes for scrape by

Browse Nearby Words

scrape bottom
scrape by
scrape down
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Scrape by.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scrape%20by. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of deportment

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Why do we call it a 'flea market'?
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All