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杯水车薪

bēi shuǐ chē xīn

4-character word Traditional 杯水車薪

What 杯水车薪 means

1. lit. a cup of water on a burning cart of firewood (idiom); fig. an utterly inadequate measure

The characters in 杯水车薪

• 杯bēicup; trophy cup; classifier for certain containers of liquids: glass, cup
• 水shuǐwater; (after a name) ... River; to swim (used mostly in 会水
• 车chēcar; vehicle; machine
• 薪xīn(literary) firewood; fuel; (bound form) salary

Go deeper

• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read bēi shuǐ chē xīn correctly.
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