To eke out is to make a small supply last, or to scrape a living. Eke out the rations.
The verb eke on its own once meant to add to, which survives nowhere else. To eke out a living suggests just enough and never any margin.
1phraseeke outTo make a small supply last, or to scrape a living.
“They had to eke out one tank of fuel for a fortnight.”
eke out is an action.
From the obsolete verb eke, to increase or add to, plus out; the same root gives the word nickname, from an eke-name.
Built from
From obsolete eke (“to add to, augment; to increase”) + out.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA