hand-to-mouth

adjective

Involving immediate consumption (especially of food) with no provision for the future; having barely enough to survive, in poverty

Similar
meagermeagremeagerly
OriginEnglish mouth ← Middle English mouth ← Old English mūþ →
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Meanings

adjective
  1. Involving immediate consumption (especially of food) with no provision for the future; having barely enough to survive, in poverty

    She has been a widow these six or eight years, and has lived, I imagine, in rather a hand-to-mouth fashion.

    1879, Henry James, Eugene Pickering
    1 more example

    The Migrant Fleet has little economic base, operating in a state of perpetual "hand-to-mouth". While quarian ships include light manufacturing and assembly plants, they lack heavy industries such as refining and shipbuilding. The fleet has tankers for water purification and oxygen cracking, but the space-intensive nature of agriculture limits food production. A single disaster could destroy the fragile balance.

    2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Quarians: Economy Codex entry

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveproviding only bare essentials

Similar
meagermeagremeagerly
Also see
meagermeagerlymeagrescrimpystingy

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Germanic*handuz
  2. Proto-West Germanic*handu
  3. Old Englishhand
  4. Middle Englishhond
  5. Englishhand
  6. Proto-Indo-European*de
  7. Proto-Indo-European*doh₁
  8. Proto-Germanic*tō
  9. Proto-West Germanic*tō
  10. Old Englishtō
  11. Middle Englishto
  12. Englishto
  13. Proto-Indo-European*men-
  14. Proto-Indo-European*mn̥-tó-s
  15. Proto-Germanic*munþaz
  16. Proto-West Germanic*munþ
  17. Old Englishmūþ
  18. Middle Englishmouth
  19. Englishmouth
  20. Englishhand-to-mouth

From hand + to + mouth.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Czech z ruky do huby
  • z ruky do hubyTranslations
Dutch van dag tot dag
  • van dag tot dagTranslations
Estonian peost suhu elada
  • peost suhu eladaTranslations
Finnish (elää) kädestä suuhun
  • (elää) kädestä suuhunTranslations
French au jour le jour
  • au jour le jourTranslations
German von der Hand in den Mund (leben)
  • von der Hand in den Mund (leben)Translations
Irish ón lámh go dtí an béal
  • ón lámh go dtí an béalTranslations
Latvian (dzīvot) no rokas mutē
  • (dzīvot) no rokas mutēTranslations
Polish z dnia na dzień
  • z dnia na dzieńTranslations
Spanish a salto de mata, al dia
  • a salto de mataTranslations
  • al diaTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

hand-to-mouth. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hand-to-mouth

MLA

“hand-to-mouth.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hand-to-mouth. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hand-to-mouth,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hand-to-mouth.

Source: hand-to-mouth on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.