got by

verb

past tense of get by
as in coped
to meet one's day-to-day needs working at night paid my college tuition and enabled me to get by—but just barely

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of got by Those five goals came on 14 shots, the last from the left point by Hedman that somehow got by Hart late in the second. — ABC News, 21 Oct. 2026 State police said all northbound lanes of the Bishop Ford were shut down after the crash, but traffic still got by on the right shoulder. — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026 Machine Gun Kelly got by in Miami with a little help from his friends. — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 21 Oct. 2026 Other people threw french fries and chicken bones; the cats got by. — Via Scribner, Literary Hub, 9 Oct. 2026 Almirón got by Sporting Kansas City defender Moisés Mosquera with several stop-and-go moves before serving a precise pass to Tomás Jacob for a score in the 13th minute. — Michael Cunningham, AJC.com, 24 Aug. 2026 His single mom, Laura, got by with assistance from the local church and benevolent relatives, including one who bought Warner football cleats. — Dan Pompei, New York Times, 21 July 2026 Cape Verde gave the defending champions a major scare on Friday, forcing extra time before Argentina got by via a late own goal in an epic Round of 32 confrontation. — Michael Lewis, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026 Koeninger ripped a ball to center field that got by a diving Zo Palmore scoring Davis to tie the game again, 7-7. — Darren Lauber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for got by
  1. coped
  2. did
  3. got on
  4. got along
  5. managed
  6. survived
  7. made out
Verb
  • The countries that coped best were not always those with the most energy resources.
    — Dr. Sarah Kapnick, semafor.com, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Kaia recently opened up about how her family coped with her brother’s addiction struggles in a Vogue interview.
    — Lara Walsh, InStyle, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of coped
Verb
  • Johnson’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday, nor did HUD officials.
    — Lizzie Kane, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2025
  • Wisconsin Republicans did the same last year, and similar efforts have been raised in other states.
    — Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2025
Definition of did
Verb
  • Mississippi State got on the board later in the third on back-to-back trick plays.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Starting over has to start somewhere, and so the Clippers got on with it Wednesday.
    — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of got on
Verb
  • Whether that announcement is marriage- or pickleball-related remains to be seen, but not everyone coming back together got along in the Big Brother house, so how does Chen Moonves feel about Jason De Puy and Kamu Kirk being reunited?
    — Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Happily, Yarberry got along well with Doris and her husband, Jon Worrell.
    — Chris Spargo, PEOPLE, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of got along
Verb
  • An additional software test will examine whether computing applications can be deployed and managed reliably on the Moon.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 21 Oct. 2026
  • And no one has managed to fetch samples from Mars, let alone its moons.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of managed
Verb
  • The grant pays for the organizations to train staff in exercise oncology, to develop or expand programs to help those who have had, or survived cancer.
    — Adam Thompson, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026
  • The federal accident report is rather scant, and since no one aboard survived to tell the story, what went wrong on that day has largely remained a mystery.
    — Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of survived
Verb
  • The news release said investigators were provided a check made out to Palicka for $12,000 from the victim's account in 2021, though police believe the thefts began as early as July 2020.
    — Michael Guise, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026
  • For many years people believed that light was made out of particles flying in straight rays.
    — Philipp Strasberg, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of made out

Browse Nearby Words

got back (at)
got by
gotcha
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Cite this Entry

“Got by.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/got%20by. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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