行百里者半九十
xíng​bǎi​lǐ​zhě​bàn​jiǔ​shí

the last bit of a task is the hardest

  • created sense approved 行百里者半九十 · xíng​bǎi​lǐ​zhě​bàn​jiǔ​shí · the last bit of a task is the hardest — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    行百里者半九十

    xíng​bǎi​lǐ​zhě​bàn​jiǔ​shí

    the last bit of a task is the hardest

    literally meaning that ninety [[里|里|li3]] is only halfway on a hundred-mile journey; used as a metaphor to describe how a task becomes more difficult as it nears completion, or to encourage someone to persist until the very end

    行 (literal) → 行 · xíng · to go 百里 (literal) → 百里 · bǎi​lǐ · one hundred li 者 (bound) → 者 · zhě · -er 半 (literal) → 半 · bàn · half 九十 (literal) → 九十 · jiǔ​shí · ninety

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

    created sense