earn a crust

To do work of any kind for a living; to earn money by some means. No, working in a canning factory isn't exactly glamorous, but we've all got to earn a crust somehow. I hear Janet earns a crust with an investment firm in Tokyo now. That nerdy girl from grade school earns a crust as a model now? Wow.

earn a crust

earn your crust

BRITISH

If you earn a crust or earn your crust, you earn enough money to live on, especially by doing work you would prefer not to do. In his early days, he would do almost anything to earn a crust. You have to earn your crust somehow. Note: A crust means a piece of bread, especially a piece of the hard, outer part of the loaf.

ˌearn a/your ˈcrust

(British English, informal) earn enough money to live on: He’s a musician now, but he used to earn a crust by cleaning windows.

The crust is the hard, outer surface of bread.