aveva a stento soldi sufficienti per comprarsi il pane
he had barely enough money to buy bread
2000, George Orwell, translated by Stefano Manferlotti, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mondadori, page 200:
A volte lo colpivano finché riusciva a stento a reggersi in piedi, poi lo scaraventavano come un sacco di patate sul pavimento di pietra di una cella, lo lasciavano lì per qualche ora per fargli recuperare un po' di energie, poi lo tiravano nuovamente fuori per riprendere a picchiarlo.
Sometimes he was beaten till he could hardly stand, then flung like a sack of potatoes on to the stone floor of a cell, left to recuperate for a few hours, and then taken out and beaten again.
(literally, “At times they struck him until he was hardly able to stand, then flung him like a sack of potatoes on the stone floor of a cell, left him there for a few hours to make him recuperate a bit of energy, then they pulled him out again to resume hitting him.”)
2019 May 27, Paolo Valentino, “Germania, grande salto Verde, Cdu vince a stento: coalizione in bilico”, in Corriere della Sera[1]:
Germania, grande salto Verde, Cdu vince a stento: coalizione in bilico
Germany, a big Green [party] jump [in political representation], Cdu wins narrowly: coalition is on shaky ground
