created sense approved 隙大墙坏/隙大牆壞 · xìdàqiánghuài · small problems lead to big disasters — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"
隙大墙坏 / 隙大牆壞
xìdàqiánghuài
small problems lead to big disasters
Literally means that when cracks in a wall become too large, the wall will collapse. It is a metaphor for how neglecting small faults or errors will eventually result in a major catastrophe. It is often cited from the book [[商君书|商君書|shang1 jun1 shu1]].
隙 (literal) → 隙 · xì · crack 大 (literal) → 大 · dà · big 墙 (literal) → 墙/牆 · qiáng · wall 坏 (literal) → 坏/壞 · guài · to ruin
Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition