hand-to-mouth

See also: hand to mouth

English

Etymology

hand +‎ to +‎ mouth

Adjective

hand-to-mouth

Involving immediate consumption (especially of food) with no provision for the future; having barely enough to survive, being close to poverty
- 1879: Henry James, Eugene Pickering
  She has been a widow these six or eight years, and has lived, I imagine, in rather a hand-to-mouth fashion.

Translations

Translations

Czech: z ruky do huby
Estonian: peost suhu elada
German: von der Hand in den Mund

Irish: ón lámh go dtí an béal
Latvian: (dzīvot) no rokas mutē ((live) from hand to mouth)
Livonian: pivst sūzõ jellõ (live from palm to mouth)

Adverb

hand-to-mouth (not comparable)

In a manner that meets one's immediate needs, with no provision for the future

See also

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