身无立锥 — “To be utterly destitute, having no place to call one's own”
身无立锥 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be utterly destitute, having no place to call one's own”. Not to have even a tiny piece of land to stand on. Literally, “no place to stand an awl”.
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身无立锥 Pronunciation and Pinyin
身无立锥 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 身无立锥
他年轻时背井离乡，身无立锥，全靠自己的努力才有了今天的成就。
When he was young, he left his hometown, utterly destitute, and achieved his current success entirely through his own hard work.
Idioms Related to 身无立锥
Synonyms of 身无立锥
More idioms starting with 身
- shēn身bù不yóu由zhǔ主beyond one's control
- shēn身bù不yóu由jǐ己beyond one's control
- shēn身bù不yù遇shí时born at an unfortunate time
- shēn身lín临qí其jìng境To experience something firsthand or immersively
- shēn身jià价bèi倍zēng增greatly enhance one's personal worth
- shēn身jià价bǎi百bèi倍one's social status or value rises significantly
- shēn身tǐ体lì力xíng行practice what you preach
- shēn身tǐ体fà发fū肤one's entire physical self
- shēn身zuò做shēn身dāng当take full responsibility for one's actions
- shēn身xiān先shì士zhòng众lead by example
- shēn身xiān先shì士zú卒lead by example
- shēn身xiān先zhāo朝lù露pass away swiftly like morning dew
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Open the tool →Questions about 身无立锥
What does 身无立锥 mean?
身无立锥 (shēn wú lì zhuī) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be utterly destitute, having no place to call one's own”.
How do you pronounce 身无立锥?
身无立锥 is pronounced shēn wú lì zhuī in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 身无立锥 literally mean?
Literally, 身无立锥 means “no place to stand an awl”. It is used to mean “to be utterly destitute, having no place to call one's own”.
What is the Chinese definition of 身无立锥?
没有寸土可以容身。比喻极小的地方。