get by
verb
got by; got by or gotten by; getting by; gets by
1
: to succeed with the least possible effort or accomplishment
2
: to make ends meet : survive
3
: to proceed without being discovered, criticized, or punished
Examples of get by in a Sentence
working at night paid my college tuition and enabled me to get by—but just barely
Recent Examples on the Web
With such a paltry salary, advocates for the idea say, lawmakers are typically wealthy, retired or need to seek out help from patrons of one sort or another to get by.
—
Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, 12 Jan. 2026
The Fund’s Self Sufficiency Standard calculates how much a household would need to earn to get by in Miami-Dade without financial assistance.
—Max Klaver, Miami Herald, 8 Jan. 2026
Now, that commenter and her husband both work and still barely get by.
—Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 8 Jan. 2026
The Stars get by with star power and strong goaltending, but the team’s weak depth is starting to catch up with them.
—Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Get by.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/get%20by. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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