1. used to show that sth. is done less smoothly, completely etc than desired
somehow (manage to...)
somehow or other.
Друзей и знакомых у Александра Николаевича было множество, один помог ему достать кирпич, другой - доски, третий - цемент, и так, худо-бедно, за два года дом был построен. Aleksandr Nikolaevich had many friends and acquaintances, one helped him to get bricks, another-lumber, a third-cement, and in that way, over the course of two years, his house somehow or other got built.
«Я сюда (в лагерь) на дармовые харчи не просился, - ответил зэк. - Я на заводе работал. Худо-бедно, а себя и свою семью сам кормил. Какой же я тунеядец?» (Марченко 1). ( context transl ) "I didn't ask to come here and get my grub free," replied the con. "I used to work in a factory - the pay was rotten but still I used to keep myself and my family, so how does that make me a parasite?" (1a).
2. ( usu.foil. by a quantit NP) not less than
at (the very) least
as a bare minimum.
Ремонт обойдется нам, худо-бедно, в пятнадцать тысяч рублей. The repairs will cost us about fifteen thousand rubles at the very least.