马不停蹄 (mǎ bù tíng tí) — nonstop; without a break; continuously (often o…

Definition

An idiom from a horse never pausing in its stride. It means 'without a break' — used for nonstop travel or hard, continuous work.

idiom

nonstopwithout a breakcontinuously (often of work or travel)

马不停蹄，。
Tā mǎ bù tíng tí dì gōng zuò le sān tiān sān yè, zhōng yú wán chéng le xiàng mù.
He worked nonstop for three days and nights and finally finished the project.
马不停蹄，。
Wǒ men mǎ bù tíng tí dì gǎn lù, zhōng yú zài rì luò qián dào dá le mù dì dì.
We traveled without stopping and finally reached our destination before sunset.
马不停蹄，。
Tā mǎ bù tíng tí dì xué xí, cóng zǎo dào wǎn dōu zài kàn shū.
She studied nonstop, reading books from morning till night.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

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

亻亭停

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rén

Sound part声符shēngfú

亭

Same sound today

The left side 亻 is a person, and the right side 亭 gives the sound tíng; this forms 停.

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

足足zúfoot

Sound part声符shēngfú

帝

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

蹄 uses 足 (foot) to point to feet and 帝 to give its sound.

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