糊口

húkǒu

verb #13,781

Meanings

1 to scrape a meager living
2 to eke out a living
3 to barely make ends meet

Characters

paste; porridge

Examples

他靠打零工糊口。

Tā kào dǎ línggōng húkǒu.

He gets by doing odd jobs.

在大城市里糊口不容易。

Zài dà chéngshì lǐ húkǒu bù róngyì.

It's not easy to make a living in a big city.

Tips

memory

糊 (paste/porridge) + 口 (mouth) — literally 'to paste over one's mouth', i.e., barely enough to feed yourself.

Stroke Order

糊 hú

口 kǒu