eke: [12] No Old English evidence of this verb, which originally meant ‘increase’, has been found, but related forms in other Germanic languages, such as Old Norse auka and Gothic aukan, suggest that it did exist. Both these and a range of non-Germanic verbs, such as Latin augēre (source of English auction, augment, and author) and Greek aúkhein, point to an ultimate Indo-European ancestor *aug- (from which comes English wax ‘grow’).
The first syllable of nickname was originally eke. Until comparatively recently English had another word eke [OE], which meant ‘also’ (German auch and Dutch ook ‘also’ are related to it). It is not clear whether it is ultimately the same word as the verb eke. => auction, augment, author, nickname, wax
eke (v.)
c. 1200, eken "to increase, lengthen," north England and East Midlands variant of echen from Old English ecan, eacan, eacian "to increase," probably from eaca "an increase," from Proto-Germanic *aukan (cognates: Old Norse auka, Danish öge, Old Frisian aka, Old Saxon okian, Old High German ouhhon, Gothic aukan), from PIE *aug- (1) "to increase" (see augment). Now mainly in phrase to eke out (1590s), wherein it means "to make a supply of something go further or last longer." Related: Eked; eking.
eke (adv.)
"also" (obsolete), from Old English eac, cognate with Old Saxon, Old Dutch ok, Old Norse and Gothic auk, Old Frisian ak, Old High German ouh, German auch "also;" probably related to eke (v.).
实用例句
1. They eke out a precarious existence foraging in rubbish dumps.
他们靠在垃圾场捡垃圾维持着朝不保夕的生活.
来自《简明英汉词典》
2. Many workers can only eke out their redundancy money for about 10 weeks.
很多工人手头的遣散费仅够维持10个星期左右。
来自柯林斯例句
3. That forced peasant farmers to try to eke a living off steep hillsides .
那迫使农民们努力在陡峭的山坡上勉强维持生计。
来自柯林斯例句
4. They eke out a bare existence ( ie They scarcely manage ) on his low salary.
