Etymology 1

Verb

1. To increase; to add to; to augment; now commonly used with out, the notion conveyed being to add to, or piece out by a laborious, inferior, or scanty addition.

   to eke out a scanty supply of one kind with some other

   • 1952, L.F. Salzman, Building in England, page 192:

     The typical medieval house was essentially a timber structure, though, for reasons of economy, its construction was eked out with cheaper material; and, speaking loosely, the later the house the greater the proportion of cheap material.

Noun

1. A very small addition to the bottom of a beehive, often merely of a few bands of straw, on which the hive is raised temporarily.