acquire a livelihood

Deprived of sight, no longer able to acquire a livelihood by his labour, weary, and full of remorse, he daily took his round through the public streets, soliciting a penny for the "poor blind."

Some days after my arrival the tailor asked me if I knew anything by which I could acquire a livelihood.

It was her intention to acquire a livelihood by means of her needle, at that time almost the only resource for genteel poverty.