Dic: eke, eke out

• That forced peasant farmers to try to eke a living off steep hillsides.
• He was eking out an existence on a few francs a day.
• Many workers can only eke out their redundancy money for about 10 weeks.

1. PHRASE : V inflects | If you eke a living or eke out an existence, you manage to survive with very little money.
   PHRASAL VERB: eke out | If you eke out something, you make your supply of it last as long as possible.
2. eke out: (1) to make (a supply) last for a long time by using as little as possible | (2) to manage to sustain (a living) despite having barely enough food or money [obsolete eke to enlarge]

... 1. Cobuild, 2. Collins Essential

eke out on WordNet 3.0:

1. supplement what is thought to be deficient; = fill out

• He eked out his meager pay by giving private lessons.
• Braque eked out his collages with charcoal.

2. live from day to day, as with some hardship;

• He eked out his years in great poverty.

3. make by laborious and precarious means; = squeeze out.

• He eked out a living as a painter.

4. obtain with difficulty; = squeeze out.

• He eked out some information from the archives.

... http://www.thefreedictionary.com/eke+out