细水长流
xì shuǐ cháng liú
Pinyin

Definition

细水长流
 - 
xì shuǐ cháng liú
  1. lit. thin streams flow forever
  2. fig. economy will get you a long way
  3. to work steadily at something little by little

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

交流
jiāo liú
  1. 1 to exchange
  2. 2 exchange
  3. 3 communication
  4. 4 interaction
  5. 5 to have social contact (with sb)
水
Shuǐ
  1. 1 surname Shui
水平
shuǐ píng
  1. 1 level (of achievement etc)
  2. 2 standard
  3. 3 horizontal
水果
shuǐ guǒ
  1. 1 fruit
  2. 2 CL:個|个[gè]
水瓶座
Shuǐ píng zuò
  1. 1 Aquarius (constellation and sign of the zodiac)
流
liú
  1. 1 to flow
  2. 2 to disseminate
  3. 3 to circulate or spread
  4. 4 to move or drift
  5. 5 to degenerate
  6. 6 to banish or send into exile
  7. 7 stream of water or sth resembling one
  8. 8 class, rate or grade
流泪
liú lèi
  1. 1 to shed tears
流行
liú xíng
  1. 1 (of a contagious disease etc) to spread
  2. 2 to propagate
  3. 3 (of a style of clothing, song etc) popular
  4. 4 fashionable
流量
liú liàng
  1. 1 flow rate
  2. 2 rate
  3. 3 throughput
  4. 4 site traffic (Internet)
泪水
lèi shuǐ
  1. 1 teardrop
  2. 2 tears
泪流满面
lèi liú mǎn miàn
  1. 1 cheeks streaming with tears (idiom)
潮流
cháo liú
  1. 1 tide
  2. 2 current
  3. 3 trend
风流
fēng liú
  1. 1 distinguished and accomplished
  2. 2 outstanding
  3. 3 talented in letters and unconventional in lifestyle
  4. 4 romantic
  5. 5 dissolute
  6. 6 loose
一流
yī liú
  1. 1 top quality
  2. 2 front ranking
一头雾水
yī tóu wù shuǐ
  1. 1 to be confused
  2. 2 to be baffled
上流
shàng liú
  1. 1 upper class
下水
xià shuǐ
  1. 1 downstream
  2. 2 to go into the water
  3. 3 to put into water
  4. 4 to launch (a ship)
  5. 5 fig. to fall into bad ways
  6. 6 to lead astray
  7. 7 to go to pot
下水道
xià shuǐ dào
  1. 1 sewer
下流
xià liú
  1. 1 lower course of a river
  2. 2 low-class
  3. 3 mean and lowly
  4. 4 vulgar
  5. 5 obscene
主流
zhǔ liú
  1. 1 main stream (of a river)
  2. 2 fig. the essential point
  3. 3 main viewpoint of a matter
  4. 4 mainstream (culture etc)

Idioms (20)

一清如水
yī qīng rú shuǐ
  1. 1 lit. as clear as water (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. (of officials etc) honest and incorruptible
一碗水端平
yī wǎn shuǐ duān píng
  1. 1 lit. to hold a bowl of water level (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to be impartial
一点水一个泡
yī diǎn shuǐ yī gè pào
  1. 1 honest and trustworthy (idiom)
三个和尚没水喝
sān gè hé shang méi shuǐ hē
  1. 1 lit. three monks have no water to drink (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. everybody's business is nobody's business
  3. 3 (If there is one monk, he will fetch water for himself. If there are two, they will fetch water together. But if there are three or more, none will take it upon himself to fetch water.)
不显山不露水
bù xiǎn shān bù lù shuǐ
  1. 1 lit. to not show the mountain and to not reveal the water (idiom); fig. to hide the key facts
人不可貌相，海水不可斗量
rén bù kě mào xiàng , hǎi shuǐ bù kě dǒu liáng
  1. 1 you can't judge a person by appearance, just as you can't measure the sea with a pint pot (idiom)
人往高处走，水往低处流
rén wǎng gāo chù zǒu , shuǐ wǎng dī chù liú
  1. 1 man seeks his way up just as water seeks its way down (idiom)
  2. 2 one should constantly strive to make progress
付之东流
fù zhī dōng liú
  1. 1 to commit to the waters (idiom); to lose sth irrevocably
似水年华
sì shuǐ nián huá
  1. 1 fleeting years (idiom)
兵来将挡，水来土掩
bīng lái jiàng dǎng , shuǐ lái tǔ yǎn
  1. 1 counter soldiers with arms, water with an earth weir (idiom); different situations call for different action
  2. 2 to adopt measures appropriate to the actual situation
兵来将敌，水来土堰
bīng lái jiàng dí , shuǐ lái tǔ yàn
  1. 1 counter soldiers with arms, water with an earth weir (idiom); different situations call for different action
  2. 2 to adopt measures appropriate to the actual situation
出水芙蓉
chū shuǐ fú róng
  1. 1 as a lotus flower breaking the surface (idiom); surpassingly beautiful (of young lady's face or old gentleman's calligraphy)
十指不沾阳春水
shí zhǐ bù zhān yáng chūn shuǐ
  1. 1 to have no need to fend for oneself (idiom)
  2. 2 to lead a pampered life
半瓶水响叮当
bàn píng shuǐ xiǎng dīng dāng
  1. 1 lit. if you tap a half-empty bottle it makes a sound (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. empty vessels make the most noise
  3. 3 one who has a little knowledge likes to show off, but one who is truly knowledgeable is modest
口碑流传
kǒu bēi liú chuán
  1. 1 widely praised (idiom); with an extensive public reputation
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)
同流合污
tóng liú hé wū
  1. 1 to wallow in the mire with sb (idiom); to follow the bad example of others
君子之交淡如水
jūn zǐ zhī jiāo dàn rú shuǐ
  1. 1 a gentleman's friendship, insipid as water (idiom, from Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子[Zhuāng zǐ])
大水冲了龙王庙
dà shuǐ chōng le Lóng Wáng miào
  1. 1 lit. surging waters flooded the Dragon King temple (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to fail to recognize a familiar person
  3. 3 a dispute between close people who fail to recognize each other
如鱼得水
rú yú dé shuǐ
  1. 1 like a fish back in water (idiom); glad to be back in one's proper surroundings

Sample Sentences

这样，大哥，以后咱们的交情可以说是细水长流。所以这方面我都替您想好了，回头让嫂子注册个公司，以后款子进出，做帐什么的也方便，免得有后顾之忧嘛。
zhèyàng ，dàgē ，yǐhòu zánmen de jiāoqíng kěyǐ shuō shì xìshuǐchángliú 。suǒyǐ zhè fāngmiàn wǒ dōu tì nín xiǎng hǎo le ，huítóu ràng sǎozi zhùcè ge gōngsī ，yǐhòu kuǎnzi jìnchū ，zuòzhàng shénme de yě fāngbiàn ，miǎnde yǒu hòugùzhīyōu ma 。
How about this. Big brother, I think we'll be friends for a long time to come so I've already thought about this for you. Later on have your wife register a company. After that, transferring money and keeping the books and such will be more convenient. That way you won't have to worry about it anymore.
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