省吃俭用
shěng chī jiǎn yòng
Pinyin

Definition

省吃俭用
 - 
shěng chī jiǎn yòng
  1. to live frugally
  2. to economize on food and clothing
  3. to scrimp and save

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

吃
chī
  1. 1 to eat
  2. 2 to consume
  3. 3 to eat at (a cafeteria etc)
  4. 4 to eradicate
  5. 5 to destroy
  6. 6 to absorb
  7. 7 to suffer
  8. 8 to stammer (Taiwan pr. for this sense is [jí])
吃饭
chī fàn
  1. 1 to have a meal
  2. 2 to eat
  3. 3 to make a living
用
yòng
  1. 1 to use
  2. 2 to employ
  3. 3 to have to
  4. 4 to eat or drink
  5. 5 expense or outlay
  6. 6 usefulness
  7. 7 hence
  8. 8 therefore
不用
bù yòng
  1. 1 need not
享用
xiǎng yòng
  1. 1 to enjoy (i.e. have the use or benefit of)
作用
zuò yòng
  1. 1 to act on
  2. 2 to affect
  3. 3 action
  4. 4 function
  5. 5 activity
  6. 6 impact
  7. 7 result
  8. 8 effect
  9. 9 purpose
  10. 10 intent
  11. 11 to play a role
  12. 12 corresponds to English -ity, -ism, -ization
  13. 13 CL:個|个[gè]
使用
shǐ yòng
  1. 1 to use
  2. 2 to employ
  3. 3 to apply
  4. 4 to make use of
信用
xìn yòng
  1. 1 to trust
  2. 2 credit (commerce)
  3. 3 trustworthiness
  4. 4 creditworthiness
信用卡
xìn yòng kǎ
  1. 1 credit card
备用
bèi yòng
  1. 1 reserve
  2. 2 spare
  3. 3 alternate
  4. 4 backup
利用
lì yòng
  1. 1 to exploit
  2. 2 to make use of
  3. 3 to use
  4. 4 to take advantage of
  5. 5 to utilize
反省
fǎn xǐng
  1. 1 to reflect upon oneself
  2. 2 to examine one's conscience
  3. 3 to question oneself
  4. 4 to search one's soul
吃力
chī lì
  1. 1 to entail strenuous effort
  2. 2 to toil at a task
  3. 3 strenuous
  4. 4 laborious
  5. 5 strain
吃吃
chī chī
  1. 1 (onom.) sound of muffled laughter (chuckling, tittering etc)
  2. 2 sound of stammering
吃喝
chī hē
  1. 1 to eat and drink
  2. 2 food and drink
吃喝玩乐
chī hē wán lè
  1. 1 to eat, drink and be merry (idiom)
  2. 2 to abandon oneself to a life of pleasure
吃完
chī wán
  1. 1 to finish eating
吃掉
chī diào
  1. 1 to eat up
  2. 2 to consume
吃素
chī sù
  1. 1 to be a vegetarian
吃苦
chī kǔ
  1. 1 to bear hardships

Idioms (20)

一心二用
yī xīn èr yòng
  1. 1 to do two things at once (idiom)
  2. 2 to multitask
  3. 3 to divide one's attention
不听老人言，吃亏在眼前
bù tīng lǎo rén yán , chī kuī zài yǎn qián
  1. 1 (idiom) ignore your elders at your peril
兔子不吃窝边草
tù zi bù chī wō biān cǎo
  1. 1 A rabbit doesn't eat the grass by its own burrow (idiom); One shouldn't do anything to harm one's neighbors.
别有用心
bié yǒu yòng xīn
  1. 1 to have an ulterior motive (idiom)
别无他用
bié wú tā yòng
  1. 1 to have no other use or purpose (idiom)
刚愎自用
gāng bì zì yòng
  1. 1 obstinate and self-opinionated (idiom)
割鸡焉用牛刀
gē jī yān yòng niú dāo
  1. 1 lit. why use a pole-ax to slaughter a chicken? (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to waste effort on a trifling matter
  3. 3 also written 殺雞焉用牛刀|杀鸡焉用牛刀[shā jī yān yòng niú dāo]
又要马儿跑，又要马儿不吃草
yòu yào mǎ r5 pǎo , yòu yào mǎ r5 bù chī cǎo
  1. 1 lit. you can't expect the horse to run fast but not let it graze (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. you can't have your cake and eat it, too
吃一堑，长一智
chī yī qiàn , zhǎng yī zhì
  1. 1 Fall into the moat and you'll be wiser next time (idiom); One only learns from one's mistakes.
吃不了兜着走
chī bu liǎo dōu zhe zǒu
  1. 1 lit. if you can't eat it all, you'll have to take it home (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. you'll have to take the consequences
吃人家的嘴软，拿人家的手短
chī rén jiā de zuǐ ruǎn , ná rén jiā de shǒu duǎn
  1. 1 lit. the mouth that has been fed by others is soft, the hand that has received doesn't reach (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. one is partial to those from whom presents have been accepted
吃人血馒头
chī rén xuè mán tou
  1. 1 to take advantage of others' misfortune (idiom)
吃力不讨好
chī lì bù tǎo hǎo
  1. 1 arduous and thankless task (idiom); strenuous and unrewarding
吃喝玩乐
chī hē wán lè
  1. 1 to eat, drink and be merry (idiom)
  2. 2 to abandon oneself to a life of pleasure
吃大锅饭
chī dà guō fàn
  1. 1 lit. to eat from the common pot (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to be rewarded the same, regardless of performance
吃水不忘掘井人
chī shuǐ bù wàng jué jǐng rén
  1. 1 Drinking the water of a well, one should never forget who dug it. (idiom)
吃熊心豹子胆
chī xióng xīn bào zi dǎn
  1. 1 to eat bear heart and leopard gall (idiom)
  2. 2 to pluck up some courage
吃粮不管事
chī liáng bù guǎn shì
  1. 1 to eat without working (idiom)
  2. 2 to take one's pay and not care about the rest
吃苦耐劳
chī kǔ nài láo
  1. 1 hardworking and enduring hardships (idiom)
吃着碗里，看着锅里
chī zhe wǎn lǐ , kàn zhe guō lǐ
  1. 1 lit. eyeing what's in the pot as one eats from one's bowl (idiom)
  2. 2 not content with what one already has
  3. 3 (of men, typically) to have the wandering eye

Sample Sentences

早些年那地方的农民就算一年到头辛苦种田，也还是过着非常穷苦的生活。虽然成功偷渡的人在海外的工资也很微薄，但是换算成人民币就很可观了，他们省吃俭用把赚的外汇寄回老家，让家人过上比较好的物质生活。
zǎo xiē nián nà dìfang de nóngmín jiùsuàn yī nián dào tóu xīnkǔ zhòngtián ，yě háishì guò zhe fēicháng qióngkǔ de shēnghuó 。suīrán chénggōng tōudù de rén zài hǎiwài de gōngzī yě hěn wēibó ，dànshì huànsuàn chéng rénmínbì jiù hěn kěguān le ，tāmen shěngchījiǎnyòng bǎ zhuàn de wàihuì jì huí lǎojiā ，ràng jiārén guòshang bǐjiào hǎo de wùzhì shēnghuó 。
Before, even though peasants in the village worked hard on the land the year through, they still lived incredibly impoverished lives. Although the wages of those who were successfully smuggled abroad were meager, they were equivalent to quite a considerable sum in renminbi, and they often lived frugally, saving up money to send back home, allowing their families to enjoy a better quality of life.
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但是，由于钻石非常昂贵，许多男性为了买一颗钻石必须省吃俭用。
dànshì ，yóuyú zuànshí fēicháng ángguì ，xǔduō nánxìng wèile mǎi yī kē zuànshí bìxū shěngchījiǎnyòng 。
However, due to the fact that diamonds are very costly, in order to buy one a lot of men will have to pinch in pennies.
Go to Lesson 
那么小就有母性啦。看看现在的玩具，真别说我们都落伍了。我儿子小时候开始有进口玩具了，什么变形金刚、芭比娃娃。我们做父母的，为了给孩子买个玩具，不得不省吃俭用。
nàme xiǎo jiù yǒu mǔxìng la 。kànkan xiànzài de wánjù ，zhēn bié shuō wǒmen dōu luòwǔ le 。wǒ érzi xiǎoshíhou kāishǐ yǒu jìnkǒu wánjù le ，shénme Biànxíngjīngāng 、Bābǐ wáwa 。wǒmen zuò fùmǔ de ，wèile gěi háizi mǎi ge wánjù ，bùdébù shěngchījiǎnyòng 。
A mother's instinct at such a young age. Looking at the toys nowadays, you could say we've fallen behind the times. When my son was little, we started having imported toys: Transformers, Barbie dolls, and what have you. As parents, in order to buy toys for our children, we'd have to live simply.
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