year of poor harvest; lean year
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesnoun
year of poor harvest; lean year; year of scarcity
literaryA formal and literary term used to describe years with crop failures or poor agricultural yield, often implying economic hardship for farming communities.
Lián连
xù续
jǐ几
gè个
qiàn歉
suì岁
ràng让
cūn村
mín民
men们
bù不
dé得
bù不
lí离
kāi开
jiā家
xiāng乡
xún寻
zhǎo找
shēng生
lù路
。
Several consecutive lean years forced the villagers to leave their hometown to seek a livelihood.
Zài在
gǔ古
dài代
，
qiàn歉
suì岁
wǎng往
wǎng往
bàn伴
suí随
zhe着
liáng粮
jià价
fēi飞
zhǎng涨
。
In ancient times, years of bad harvest were often accompanied by soaring grain prices.
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Jīn今
nián年
shì是
gè个
qiàn歉
suì岁
，
liáng粮
shi食
jiǎn减
chǎn产
le了
sān三
chéng成
。
This year is a lean year, with grain production down by thirty percent.