economize on food and clothing; be frugal
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesidiom
to economize on food and clothing; to live frugally; to cut back on expenses
formalDescribes extreme frugality, often out of financial necessity. The emphasis is on cutting back on basic necessities (clothing and food).
Wèi为
le了
gōng供
hái孩
zi子
shàng上
xué学
，
tā他
men们
yī一
jiā家
rén人
jié节
yī衣
suō缩
shí食
le了
hǎo好
jǐ几
nián年
。
In order to put their child through school, the whole family lived frugally for several years.
Zhàn战
zhēng争
shí时
qī期
，
lǎo老
bǎi百
xìng姓
bù不
dé得
bù不
jié节
yī衣
suō缩
shí食
。
During wartime, ordinary people had no choice but to economize on food and clothing.
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Tā他
tōng通
guò过
jié节
yī衣
suō缩
shí食
zǎn攒
xià下
le了
dì第
yī一
bǐ笔
chuàng创
yè业
zī资
jīn金
。
He saved up his first pot of startup capital by living very frugally.