qiān lǐ zhī dī , kuì yú yǐ xué

Traditional: 千里之堤，潰於蟻穴

千里之堤，溃于蚁穴 (qiān lǐ zhī dī , kuì yú yǐ xué) is a Chinese word meaning “lit. an ant hole may cause the collapse of a great dike (idiom); fig. huge damage may result from a moment's negligence”.

Meanings

  1. 1lit. an ant hole may cause the collapse of a great dike (idiom)
  2. 2fig. huge damage may result from a moment's negligence

Characters in 千里之堤，溃于蚁穴

千qiān · thousand里lǐ · lining之zhī · (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5])堤dī · dike溃huì · used in 潰膿|溃脓[hui4 nong2]于yú · to go蚁yǐ · ant穴xué · cave

Related words

里lining里li, ancient measure of length, approx. 500 m里surname Li里variant of 裡|里[li3]这里here这里variant of 這裡|这里[zhe4 li3]那里there; that place那里there; that place之(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5])之前before哪里where?哪里where?

Study Chinese with flashcards →