work for others' benefit; labor in vain; be exploited
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesidiom
to work hard for others without benefiting oneself; to labor in vain for others' gain; to be exploited
literary源自唐·秦韬玉《贫女》诗：“苦恨年年压金线，为他人作嫁衣裳。”原指贫穷女子辛苦缝制嫁衣给他人穿着，自己却无钱出嫁。后比喻替他人操劳忙累，自己却毫无所得。多含贬义或自怜意味。
Wǒ我
bù不
xiǎng想
yī一
bèi辈
zi子
zài在
gōng公
sī司
wèi为
rén人
zuò作
jià嫁
，
jué决
dìng定
cí辞
zhí职
chuàng创
yè业
。
I don't want to spend my whole life working for others' benefit at the company, so I've decided to quit and start my own business.
Tā他
xīn辛
xīn辛
kǔ苦
kǔ苦
gàn干
le了
èr二
shí十
nián年
，
dào到
tóu头
lái来
zhǐ只
shì是
wèi为
rén人
zuò作
jià嫁
，
lián连
gǔ股
quán权
dōu都
méi没
yǒu有
。
He worked painstakingly for twenty years, but in the end he was just laboring for others' gain without even having any equity.
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Rú如
guǒ果
yán研
jiū究
chéng成
guǒ果
zhǐ只
néng能
wèi为
rén人
zuò作
jià嫁
，
nà那
kē科
yán研
rén人
yuán员
hái还
yǒu有
shén什
me么
jī积
jí极
xìng性
？
If research results can only benefit others, what motivation do researchers have?