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饥寒交迫 (jī hán jiāo pò) — suffering from hunger and cold; poverty-stricken

Definition

A literary idiom meaning 'suffering both hunger and cold at once' — paints extreme, simultaneous deprivation, stronger than just saying someone is poor.

idiom
suffering from hunger and coldpoverty-stricken

Examples

  • ，饥寒交迫。
    Zài jiù shè huì, xǔ duō qióng rén guò zhe jī hán jiāo pò de shēng huó.
    In the old society, many poor people lived a life of hunger and cold.
  • 饥寒交迫，。
    Nà ge nàn mín jiā tíng jī hán jiāo pò, jí xū jiù zhù.
    That refugee family is suffering from hunger and cold and urgently needs help.
  • 饥寒交迫。
    Xiǎo shuō miáo xiě le nóng mín jī hán jiāo pò de bēi cǎn chǔ jìng.
    The novel depicts the miserable situation of peasants suffering from hunger and cold.

Origin

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 飢; 饥 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 饥 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (饥饿) it is 飢; in others it is 饑.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
食食shí
Sound part声符shēngfú
几
几jǐ飢jī
Same sound today

The traditional form 飢 uses 食 for food and 几 for the sound; the simplified 饥 is a shorthand.

Open 饥 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 宀宀miánhouse
  • 人人rénperson
  • 茻茻mǎnggrass

寒 shows 宀 (house), 人 (person), and 茻 (grass): a person sleeping in grass inside a house to keep out the cold.

Open 寒 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

交 originally drew a human with crossed legs. In the modern shape, the upper part resembles a standing person.

Open 交 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái迫pò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 迫 pairs the walking radical 辶 (written in full as 辵) with 白, which gives the sound.

Open 迫 →
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Idioms & Set Phrases

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