小洞不补大洞吃苦
xiǎo​dòng​bù​bǔ​dà​dòng​chī​kǔ

a stitch in time saves nine

  • created sense approved 小洞不补大洞吃苦/小洞不補大洞吃苦 · xiǎo​dòng​bù​bǔ​dà​dòng​chī​kǔ · a stitch in time saves nine — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    小洞不补大洞吃苦 / 小洞不補大洞吃苦

    xiǎo​dòng​bù​bǔ​dà​dòng​chī​kǔ

    a stitch in time saves nine

    (idiom) a small hole left unrepaired will eventually result in a big hole that causes much trouble; small problems must be fixed early before they become serious.

    小 (literal) → 小 · xiǎo · small 洞 (literal) → 洞 · dòng · hole 不 (literal) → 不 · bù · not 补 (literal) → 补/補 · bǔ · to mend 大 (literal) → 大 · dà · big 洞 (literal) → 洞 · dòng · hole 吃苦 (literal) → 吃苦 · chī​kǔ · to suffer

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

    created sense