adjective
providing only bare essentials
-
a hand-to-mouth existence
* * *
\\| ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷| ̷ ̷\ adjective : having or providing nothing to spare or having or providing barely enough especially of money or the necessities of existence : precarious
leading a hand-to-mouth existence
found employment in shoveling sidewalks, sawing wood, and other hand-to-mouth jobs — Dixon Wecter
steel users … report that they are operating on a hand-to-mouth basis with less than a week's supply — Newsweek
* * *
/hand"teuh mowth"/, adj.
offering or providing the barest livelihood, sustenance, or support; meager; precarious: a hand-to-mouth existence.
[1500-10]
* * *
hand-to-mouth UK US adjective, adverb
with just enough money or food to live on
a hand-to-mouth existence
* * *
hand-to-mouth «HAND tuh MOWTH», adjective.
not providing for the future; having nothing to spare; not thrifty: »
a hand-to-mouth existence.
* * *
/ˈhændtəˈmaʊθ/ adj
: having only enough money to survive
After the factories closed, many people lived a hand-to-mouth existence. [=many people were poor]
— see also hand to mouth at ↑hand, 1
* * *
if you have a hand-to-mouth life, you spend all the money you earn on basic needs such as food and do not have anything left
Useful english dictionary. 2012.