záguōmàitiě

砸锅卖铁

Word · VerbTraditional砸鍋賣鐵

spare no expense; give one's all

Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma

Meanings

1 sense · 4 examples
1.

verb

to give everything one has; to spare no expense; to do everything possible

informal

A colloquial idiom expressing willingness to sacrifice all one's possessions or resources to achieve a goal. Often used to describe parents sacrificing for children or desperate efforts to raise money.

Fù父
mǔ母
zá砸
guō锅
mài卖
tiě铁
yě也
yào要
gōng供
hái孩
zi子
shàng上
dà大
xué学
 。

The parents will spare no expense to put their child through college.

Wèi为
le了
zhì治
hǎo好
nǚ女
ér儿
de的
bìng病
 ,
tā他
zá砸
guō锅
mài卖
tiě铁
yě也
zài在
suǒ所
bù不
xī惜
 。

To cure his daughter's illness, he would give everything he owns without hesitation.

Show 2 more examples
Zán咱
men们
jiù就
shì是
zá砸
guō锅
mài卖
tiě铁
 ,
yě也
yào要
bǎ把
zhè这
bǐ笔
qián钱
còu凑
qí齐
 。

Even if we have to sell the farm, we must raise this sum of money.

Qiú球
duì队
zá砸
guō锅
mài卖
tiě铁
yǐn引
jìn进
le了
zhè这
wèi位
chāo超
jí级
jù巨
xīng星
 。

The team broke the bank to sign this superstar.