Dictionary › 白手起家

白手起家

bái shǒu qǐ jiā

4-character word

What 白手起家 means

1. idiomto build up from nothing; to start from scratch

The characters in 白手起家

• 白báiwhite; snowy; pure
• 手shǒuhand; (formal) to hold; person engaged in certain types of work
• 起qǐto rise; to raise; to get up
• 家jiāused in 家伙

Example sentences

• 林肯总统就是我们所谓白手起家的男人。
  Línkěn zǒngtǒng jiùshì wǒmen suǒwèi báishǒuqǐjiā de nánrén.
  President Lincoln was what we call a self-made man.