Definition
水涨船高 (shuǐ zhǎng chuán gāo) is a four-character idiom that literally means 'when the water rises, the boat floats higher.' It is used figuratively to describe a situation where an improvement or increase in one area leads to a corresponding rise in another area that depends on it.
idiom
as the tide risesthe boat floatsfig. when fundamentals improveeverything else rises accordingly
Examples
- ，水涨船高。Suízhe jiàoyù tóurù de zēngjiā, xuéxiào de jiàoxué zhìliàng yě huì shuǐ zhǎng chuán gāo.As education investment increases, the quality of teaching in schools will also rise accordingly.
- ，水涨船高。Rúguǒ shìchǎng xūqiú shàngshēng, chǎnpǐn jiàgé jiù huì shuǐ zhǎng chuán gāo.If market demand rises, product prices will go up along with it.
- ，水涨船高。Zài fángjià shàngzhǎng de qíngkuàng xià, zūjīn zìrán yě shuǐ zhǎng chuán gāo.When housing prices rise, rent naturally goes up as well.
Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.