十万火急 (shí wàn huǒ jí) — most urgent; extremely urgent; posthaste

Definition

Idiom for an emergency at the highest level — “ten thousand fires blazing” — stronger than 紧急 (urgent). Used in urgent notices, dispatches, and crisis appeals.

idiom

most urgentextremely urgentposthaste

Examples

十万火急，。
Zhè shì yí jiàn shí wàn huǒ jí de shì qing, wǒ men bì xū mǎ shàng chǔ lǐ.
This is a matter of extreme urgency; we must handle it immediately.
十万火急，。
Tā jiē dào yí gè shí wàn huǒ jí de diàn huà, lì kè chū fā le.
He received an urgent call and set off right away.
十万火急。
Qǐng dà jiā yǐ shí wàn huǒ jí de sù dù bǎ bào gào jiāo shàng lái.
Everyone, please turn in the reports with utmost urgency.

Origin

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The early shape 十 was mostly a single vertical stroke, sometimes with a dot, and later gained a horizontal stroke to form a cross. For the number ten, it marked the next digit above one.

Open 十 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 萬; 万 is its simplified writing.

For 万, the form 萬 was originally a picture of a scorpion, later borrowed for its sound to write 'ten thousand'; the scorpion picture is unrelated to that number.

Open 万 →

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

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

Open 火 →

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

心心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

及

及jí急jí

Same sound today

急 pairs 心 (heart) with 及, which gives the sound.