卖李钻核 — “To act with extreme selfishness”
卖李钻核 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to act with extreme selfishness”. Specifically by deliberately spoiling something to prevent others from benefiting from its potential, such as hoarding good resources or knowledge. Literally, “Sell plums and bore holes in the stones”.
卖李钻核 Pronunciation and Pinyin
卖李钻核 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 卖李钻核
Origin and Story of 卖李钻核
During the Jin Dynasty, Wang Rong was a notoriously stingy person. He had many excellent plum trees at home, and the plums were large and sweet. Fearing that others might obtain his superior seeds, he removed all the plum stones before selling the plums.
Idioms Related to 卖李钻核
Antonyms of 卖李钻核
More idioms starting with 卖
- mài卖zhǔ主qiú求róng荣betray master for personal gain
- mài卖guāi乖nòng弄qiào俏show off cleverness and feign charm
- mài卖qiào俏yǐ倚mén门flaunt charm to solicit customers
- mài卖qiào俏yíng营jiān奸use charm to commit wickedness
- mài卖qiào俏xíng行jiān奸flaunt charms and commit adultery
- mài卖qiào俏yíng迎jiān奸flirt to entice illicit acts
- mài卖ér儿tiē贴fù妇sell children and wife due to poverty
- mài卖ér儿yù鬻nǚ女sell children due to extreme poverty
- mài卖gōng公yíng营sī私betray public trust for private gain
- mài卖dāo刀mǎi买niú牛abandon conflict for peaceful work
- mài卖dāo刀mǎi买dú犊give up fighting for farming
- mài卖jiàn剑mǎi买niú牛abandon fighting for peaceful farming
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Open the tool →Questions about 卖李钻核
What does 卖李钻核 mean?
卖李钻核 (mài lǐ zuān hé) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to act with extreme selfishness”.
How do you pronounce 卖李钻核?
卖李钻核 is pronounced mài lǐ zuān hé in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 卖李钻核 literally mean?
Literally, 卖李钻核 means “Sell plums and bore holes in the stones”. It is used to mean “to act with extreme selfishness”.
Where does 卖李钻核 come from?
卖李钻核 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 卖李钻核?
先钻李核，然后出卖，免得别人得到良种。形容极端自私。