English rendering Barely stay alive Literal translation: “Attach one's lifeline”
Barely maintain life by relying on something.
Dictionary example 1
그는 집안이 망하고 병까지 들어 사촌에게 명맥을 붙였다.
Read the meanings, trace, then cover above the masking line and write. Uncover, choose a meaning, and make your own sentence.
Writing text명맥 붙이다
Explore the body parts or scenes linked to this idiom.
A silent film that writes the headword and its meaning.
Depend on something for survival Rely on or cling to something to live or sustain one’s life 
Hold someone's life in one's hands Have the power to decide the fate of someone's life as one pleases. 
pass away To stop breathing and die. 
Shared · 2 Take a life Kill oneself or another person 
Seek a way to survive Try to find a way to live when close to death 
Dedicate one's life Work for something with one's life at stake. 
2 meanings Take one's own life; work regardless of death Take one's own life. 
lose one’s life A euphemistic expression for to die. 
Hover between life and death Be at an extremely dangerous juncture 
Have no time to catch one’s breath Have no leisure even to calm one’s labored breathing Browse in Hangul order.
WORDROW Korean Idioms