功亏一篑 (gōng kuī yī kuì) — to fall short of success for lack of a final effort; to fail at the last stretch
Definition
Literally 'one basket of earth short of completing the mound' — describes failure right before the finish, when the final push was missing. Often used to warn against giving up at the last hurdle.
idiom
to fall short of success for lack of a final effortto fail at the last stretch
Examples
- ，功亏一篑。Tā kǎo shì zhī chà yì fēn jiù jí gé le, zhēn shì gōng kuī yī kuì.He was just one point away from passing the exam — truly a case of falling short at the last step.
- ，，功亏一篑。Xiàng mù jìn zhǎn shùn lì, dàn zuì hòu yì bǐ zī jīn méi dào wèi, zuì zhōng gōng kuī yī kuì.The project was going smoothly, but the last tranche of funding never came through, so it ultimately collapsed right before completion.
- ，功亏一篑。Nǐ yào jiān chí dào zuì hòu, bié yīn wèi yì diǎn kùn nan jiù gōng kuī yī kuì.You need to hold out until the end — don't give up at the last hurdle just because of a small difficulty.
Appears in
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