hand-to-mouth existence
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Locked down for two months in crumbling apartments in a mob-infiltrated town north of Naples, their hand-to-mouth existence has grown even more precarious with no work, no food and no hope.
From Washington Times • May 2, 2020
Even so, life as a professional string quartet has been a hand-to-mouth existence.
From New York Times • Apr. 19, 2020
Almost 25 years after the end of the war, Bosnian citizens are trapped in a hand-to-mouth existence, with some 23% estimated to be living at or below the absolute poverty line.
From The Guardian • May 29, 2019
The military seemed like the only way out of a hand-to-mouth existence, so Harris enlisted in the branch that seemed least dangerous.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 10, 2019
If ever an institution passed its first year in a hand-to-mouth existence, this one has.
From Lighted to Lighten: the Hope of India by Doren, Alice B. Van
