eke

Thanks VO.

Eek.

Plain 'eke':

1. trans. To increase, add to, lengthen. Also absol. 'neither to eke nor to pair' (Sc.): neither to add to nor take from. Proverb, 'every little ekes'. arch. or dial.

b. intr. To increase, grow. Obs.

2. To add. Const. til, to. Also absol. Obs.

Also 'eke up': 'to supply, repair (a loss). Obs.'

Is there a difference between eke and eke out?

Can't argue with that. (Don't change one word of your poem, yarb, I'm just stuck in the olden days before male salmon!)

OED, 2nd Ed.:

'3. to eke out: a. to supplement, supply the deficiencies of anything (const. with); esp. to make (resources, materials, articles of consumption, etc.) last the required time by additions, by partial use of a substitute, or by economy.

'b. To prolong (a speech or composition, an action) by expedients devised for that purpose; to contrive to fill up (a certain amount of space in writing, etc.).

'c. To contrive to make (a livelihood), or to support (existence) by various makeshifts.'

Interestingly enough, eke also turns out to be a dialect term (northern England) for a male salmon; cited once, 1887.

Is that really misuse? I reckon it's so widespread a usage as to constitute a shift in meaning. What does OED2 say?

I'm just annoyed because I (mis)used it recently in a poem.

Idiom: "eke out a living", frequently misused to mean making a pretty poor living overall doing something that's badly paid, when in fact it refers to the making up of deficiencies. Merriam-Webster's example: "He eked out his income by getting a second job."