畫脂鏤冰
huà​zhī​lòu​bīng

futile effort

  • created sense approved 画脂镂冰/畫脂鏤冰 · huà​zhī​lòu​bīng · futile effort — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    画脂镂冰 / 畫脂鏤冰

    huà​zhī​lòu​bīng

    futile effort

    Painting on fat or carving on ice; describes a wasted effort or a futile undertaking where all labor is lost once the medium melts.

    画 (literal) → 画/畫 · huà · to draw 脂 (literal) → 脂 · zhī · fat 镂 (literal) → 镂/鏤 · lòu · to engrave 冰 (literal) → 冰 · bīng · ice

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

    created sense