WordWeb Online

1. Supplement what is thought to be deficient
   "He eked out his meagre pay by giving private lessons"; "Braque eked out his collages with charcoal"
   - fill out
    
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
   "He eked out a living as a painter"
   - squeeze out
    
4. Obtain with difficulty
   "He eked out some information from the archives"
   - squeeze out

Derived forms: ekes out, eking out, eked out

Type of: bring in, clear, earn, gain, live, make, obtain, pull in, realise [Brit], realize, supplement, take in