可着头做帽子
kě​zhe​tóu​zuò​mào​zi

to cut one's coat according to one's cloth

  • created sense approved 可着头做帽子/可著頭做帽子 · kě​zhe​tóu​zuò​mào​zi · to cut one's coat according to one's cloth — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    可着头做帽子 / 可著頭做帽子

    kě​zhe​tóu​zuò​mào​zi

    to cut one's coat according to one's cloth

    Literally "to make a hat according to the size of the head"; used as a metaphor for living within one's means or being careful with spending to avoid any waste.

    可着 (literal) → 可着/可著 · kě​zhe · to the limit 头 (literal) → 头/頭 · tóu · head 做 (literal) → 做 · zuò · to make 帽子 (literal) → 帽子 · mào​zi · hat

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense