to use something slowly or carefully because you only have a small amount of it

There wasn't much food left, but we just managed to eke it out. 剩下的食物不多，但是我们省吃少餐设法挺了过来。

He managed to eke out a living (= earn just enough to live on) one summer by selling drinks on a beach. 他靠在海滩上卖饮料设法维持了一个夏天。