make ends meet

Definition

To have enough money to cover expenses; to get by financially; to get through the pay period (sufficient to meet the next payday).

Etymology

Unknown. Perhaps originally referred to the ends of rope meeting, signifying continuity and therefore security and stability. Perhaps shifting later to refer to the attempt at making money last from one pay period to the next (i.e. the ends), thereby leaving no gap or break in the availability of funds. Compare French joindre les deux bouts (literally “join the two ends”) with the same meaning. The form make both ends meet is attested from the 17th century, and was the more common form until the early-to-mid 20th century.

Example Sentences

• "... a schoolmaster, whose income being small, he was fain to keep a glass of good liquor for the entertainment of passengers, by which he made shift to make the two ends of the year meet."
• "Although most of the poor and displaced in Khartoum struggle to make ends meet, a very small number not only find work, but form small co-operatives."
• "'Cause it's a bitter sweet symphony that's life / Trying to make ends meet, you're a slave to money then you die"