make a living

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

make a living (third-person singular simple present makes a living, present participle making a living, simple past and past participle made a living)

1. To earn enough income to support oneself and, if applicable, one's family.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:make a living

   Hyponyms: get by, keep body and soul together

   • 1972 March 14, Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather, spoken by Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), Paramount Pictures:

     You found paradise in America. You had a good trade, made a good living.

2. (of animals) To manage to find enough food to survive.

Related terms

• living wage

 

Translations

earn enough income

Arabic: اِرْتَزَقَ (irtazaqa) Catalan: guanyar-se la vida (ca) Chinese: Cantonese: 搵食／揾食 (wan2 sik6) Mandarin: 過活／过活 (zh) (guòhuó), 營生／营生 (zh) (yíngshēng), 謀生／谋生 (zh) (móushēng), 糊口 (zh) (húkǒu), 混飯吃／混饭吃 (zh) (hùnfànchī) Czech: uživit se Dutch: zich in zijn levensonderhoud voorzien Finnish: tulla toimeen (fi), ansaita elantonsa French: gagner sa vie (fr) German: sich seinen Lebensunterhalt verdienen (sich in dative case) Greek: βγάζω το ψωμί μου (vgázo to psomí mou) Hungarian: él (hu) (with -ból/-ből), megél (hu) Icelandic: komast af Italian: guadagnarsi da vivere Japanese: 生計を立てる (seikei o tateru), 食べていく (tabete iku), 暮らしを立てる (kurashi o tateru) Korean: please add this translation if you can Latin: mereo Polish: zarabiać na życie Portuguese: ganhar a vida Romanian: a-și câștiga existența, a-și câștiga traiul Russian: зараба́тывать на жизнь impf (zarabátyvatʹ na žiznʹ), зарабо́тать на жизнь pf (zarabótatʹ na žiznʹ) Scottish Gaelic: thoir aran Slovak: uživiť sa Spanish: ganarse la vida (es), ganarse las lentejas, ganarse las habichuelas, ganarse los garbanzos Swedish: försörja sig, tjäna sitt levebröd Thai: ทำมาหากิน (th) (tam-maa-hǎa-gin) Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can Vietnamese: kiếm sống