犊牧采薪 — “A metaphor for an old man who lives alone without a wife”

犊牧采薪 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “a metaphor for an old man who lives alone without a wife”. Often having to be self-sufficient.

Frequency

犊牧采薪 Pronunciation and Pinyin

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
犊	dú	12	newborn calf, inexperienced person
牧	mù	8	to herd, govern, or manage
采	cǎi	8	pick, gather, extract, collect
薪	xīn	16	Firewood for passing on tradition

他年事已高，膝下无子，成了典型的犊牧采薪，生活颇为清苦。

He is advanced in age, has no children, and has become a typical old bachelor, leading a rather austere life.

Printable tracing sheets with a QR learning companion

Picture and word Bingo for your class

Chinese and English fill-in vocabulary worksheets

Choose character parts and animate their colors, together or in stroke order

What does 犊牧采薪 mean?

犊牧采薪 (dú mù cǎi xīn) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “a metaphor for an old man who lives alone without a wife”.

How do you pronounce 犊牧采薪?

犊牧采薪 is pronounced dú mù cǎi xīn in Mandarin Chinese.

What is the Chinese definition of 犊牧采薪?

喻指老而无妻的人。