eke

1 of 2

adverb

ˈēk How to pronounce eke (audio)
archaic
: also

eke

2 of 2

verb

eked; eking

transitive verb

1
archaic : increase, lengthen
2
: to get with great difficulty
—usually used with out
eke out a living

Synonyms

Verb

See all Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus 

Examples of eke in a Sentence

Verb eked out a living from the family's small farm
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.
Verb
Polling last week showed Trump eking ahead of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, but a recent poll in Iowa now gives Harris the slight edge in the typically red state. —Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2024 Despite an extremely narrow race that appears to be a tie, a raft of late polls showed Trump eking ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris. —Paolo Confino, Fortune, 29 Oct. 2024 That makes for a total capacity of 1,844 Wh and per-charge pedal-assist of up to 211 miles (the European flavor can eke a little more from the battery for up to 350 km). —Paul Ridden, New Atlas, 20 Sep. 2024 Leave it to Julian Fellowes, the man who made his career mining the aristocracy, to eke a season’s worth of narrative tension out of dueling opera houses. —Mikey O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for eke 

Word History

Etymology

Adverb

Middle English, from Old English ēac; akin to Old High German ouh also, Latin aut or, Greek au again

Verb

Middle English echen, (northern and east Midlands) eken "to increase, extend, add, improve," going back to Old English īcan, gīcan, ȳcan, geȳcan, (Anglian) geēcan "to increase, add to, enhance," weak-verb derivative from Germanic *aukan- "to increase" (class VII strong verb), whence Old English ēacen, ēcen (past participle) "increased, endowed with excellent qualities, mighty," Old Frisian āka "to increase," Old Saxon ōkan "to make pregnant," Old High German zuoouhhan "to add," Old Icelandic auka "to increase, add to, surpass," Gothic aukan "to increase" (intransitive); Germanic *aukan- going back to a present stem from the Indo-European verbal base *h2eu̯g- "grow, increase," whence also, with other formations, Lithuanian áugu, áugti "to grow," Latin augēō, augēre, perfect auxī "to increase, make greater, heighten"

Note: Regarding the most likely related Indo-European base *h2u̯eks- see the note at wax entry 3.

First Known Use

Adverb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of eke was before the 12th century

Phrases Containing eke

Dictionary Entries Near eke

ekdemite

eke

ekename

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Eke.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eke. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.

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