Eek! Someone was eeking out an existence in a story I read recently. I felt so bad for her, as her throat must be incredibly raw from all that screeching. Now, if she’d been eking out an existence, I’d’ve known she might be having money problems.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Eek | Eke |
|---|---|
 — |
 — |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Abbreviation 1; Exclamation 2 | Adverb 1; Verb, transitive, 2
Third person present verb: ekes |
| Abbreviation: [Currency] A kroon is the standard monetary unit of Estonia 1 Exclamation: |
Adverb: [Archaic] Also 1 [Archaic] Moreover Verb, transitive:
[Archaic] To increase, enlarge, or lengthen |
| Examples: | |
| Abbreviation: That’ll be 45 EEK. Exclamation: Eek! He’s got a gun. |
Adverb: “And eek it is, &c., and moreover it is not likely that ever in all thy life thou wilt stand in her favour” (Chaucer). “Tis false: for Arthur wore in hall / Round-table like a farthingal, / On which, with shirt pull’d out behind, / And eke before, his good knights dined” (Butler). “John Gilpin was a citizen / of credit and renown / A train-band captain eke was he / of famous London town” (Cowper). Verb, transitive: They eked out their livelihoods from the soil. The remains of yesterday’s stew could be eked out to make another meal. Tennessee eked out a 74–73 overtime victory. You can eke out your income by taking a second job, but you can’t eke out your existence. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Noun: eking | |
| History of the Word: | |
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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Eek versus Eke
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Apple Dictionary.com
Butler, Samuel. Hudibras. part 1. canto 1. 2011. <https://amzn.to/3X13sfp>. Originally published 1663. Ebook.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. Canterbury Tales. Xist Classic, 2015. <https://amzn.to/3E2jdKC>. Ebook.
Cowper, William. The Diverting History of John Gilpin. Pook Press, 2015. Originally published 1782. <https://amzn.to/3hBG4oC>. Print.
Pinterest Photo Credits
House Mouse by Axel Boldt and this photo from Associated Press, Seven Year Itch: Marilyn Monroe Pose, which was published by Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Both are in the public domain. The Egg Chair by Scott Anderson from Jakarta, Indonesia, is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license. All three are via Wikimedia Commons.
Revised as of 10 Apr 2024
By: Kathy Davie