hand-to-mouth

英 [ˌhænd tə ˈmaʊθ]

美 [ˌhænd tə ˈmaʊθ]

adj.  仅够糊口的; 勉强维持生计的

习惯用语

adj.

live (from) hand to mouth
• 仅够糊口度日
  to spend all the money you earn on basic needs such as food without being able to save any money

牛津词典

adj.

• 仅够糊口的；勉强维持生计的
  if you have a hand-to-mouth life, you spend all the money you earn on basic needs such as food and do not have anything left

柯林斯词典

• ADJ-GRADED （生活）勉强糊口的
  Ahand-to-mouthexistence is a way of life in which you have hardly enough food or money to live on.
  1. The worst-paid live a hand-to-mouth existence without medical or other benefits.
     收入最低者过着只能勉强糊口的日子，没有医疗补助或其他福利。
  2. Hand-to-mouthis also an adverb.
     
  3. ...penniless students living hand-to-mouth.
     身无分文、勉强度日的学生

双语例句

• Arts organisations have often lived hand-to-mouth and have long had to become more business-savvy to guarantee their survival.
  艺术组织经常只能勉强维持，长期以来，它们不得不变得更有商业头脑，以保证自己的生存。
• From being a poor, struggling, little hand-to-mouth enterprise, it had become celebrated, and overcrowded with customers.
  这原本是一家穷得叮当响、苦巴苦结勉强糊口的小吃店，现在名声大振、顾客盈门了。
• It is the product of the shape of our bodies, how hand-to-mouth behaviour is built into ( and rewarded in) our brains and the psychology of habit.
  它是我们身体构造的产物，是手对嘴行为如何在人类大脑中建立以及习惯心理的产物。
• I won't have you living hand-to-mouth like me, you hear?
  我不想让你像我一样无隔宿之粮，听到了吗？
• Over a week of meetings, Singapore-based traders and executives told me about a slowdown in demand in China and India; pretty bearish sentiment; plentiful supply; mounting inventories; hand-to-mouth consumers in Asia, and defaults and deferrals in shipments.
  在为期一周的会议上，新加坡交易商和企业高管告诉我，中国和印度需求放缓；情绪相当悲观；供给充足；库存不断增加；亚洲消费者仅能糊口，交货违约和延期。
• Critics argue that the government's hand-to-mouth policymaking is self-defeating, and illustrates its general lack of planning.
  评论家认为政府的这种勉强过得去的政策制定方式将事与愿违，而且说明其整体缺乏计划性。
• The worst-paid live a hand-to-mouth existence without medical or other benefits.
  收入最低者过着只能勉强糊口的日子，没有医疗补助或其他福利。