苦力
kǔ lì
Pinyin

Definition

苦力
 - 
kǔ lì
  1. bitter work
  2. hard toil
  3. (loanword) coolie, unskilled Chinese laborer in colonial times

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

力
Lì
  1. 1 surname Li
力量
lì liang
  1. 1 power
  2. 2 force
  3. 3 strength
努力
nǔ lì
  1. 1 great effort
  2. 2 to strive
  3. 3 to try hard
压力
yā lì
  1. 1 pressure
实力
shí lì
  1. 1 strength
巧克力
qiǎo kè lì
  1. 1 chocolate (loanword)
  2. 2 CL:塊|块[kuài]
引力
yǐn lì
  1. 1 gravitation (force)
  2. 2 attraction
影响力
yǐng xiǎng lì
  1. 1 influence
  2. 2 impact
痛苦
tòng kǔ
  1. 1 pain
  2. 2 suffering
  3. 3 painful
  4. 4 CL:個|个[gè]
给力
gěi lì
  1. 1 cool
  2. 2 nifty
  3. 3 awesome
  4. 4 impressive
  5. 5 to put in extra effort
能力
néng lì
  1. 1 capability
  2. 2 ability
  3. 3 CL:個|个[gè]
苦
kǔ
  1. 1 bitter
  2. 2 hardship
  3. 3 pain
  4. 4 to suffer
  5. 5 to bring suffering to
  6. 6 painstakingly
辛苦
xīn kǔ
  1. 1 exhausting
  2. 2 hard
  3. 3 tough
  4. 4 arduous
  5. 5 to work hard
  6. 6 to go to a lot of trouble
  7. 7 hardship(s)
魅力
mèi lì
  1. 1 charm
  2. 2 fascination
  3. 3 glamor
  4. 4 charisma
主力
zhǔ lì
  1. 1 main force
  2. 2 main strength of an army
乏力
fá lì
  1. 1 lacking in strength
  2. 2 weak
  3. 3 feeble
人力
rén lì
  1. 1 manpower
  2. 2 labor power
何苦
hé kǔ
  1. 1 why bother?
  2. 2 is it worth the trouble?
免疫力
miǎn yì lì
  1. 1 immunity
全力
quán lì
  1. 1 with all one's strength
  2. 2 full strength
  3. 3 all-out (effort)
  4. 4 fully (support)

Idioms (20)

不胜其苦
bù shèng qí kǔ
  1. 1 unable to bear the pain (idiom)
不遗余力
bù yí yú lì
  1. 1 to spare no pains or effort (idiom); to do one's utmost
九牛二虎之力
jiǔ niú èr hǔ zhī lì
  1. 1 tremendous strength (idiom)
倒悬之苦
dào xuán zhī kǔ
  1. 1 lit. the pain of being hanged upside down (idiom); fig. extremely critical situation
  2. 2 dire straits
备尝辛苦
bèi cháng xīn kǔ
  1. 1 to have suffered all kinds of hardships (idiom)
冥思苦想
míng sī kǔ xiǎng
  1. 1 to consider from all angles (idiom); to think hard
  2. 2 to rack one's brains
冥思苦索
míng sī kǔ suǒ
  1. 1 to mull over (idiom)
  2. 2 to think long and hard
刻苦耐劳
kè kǔ nài láo
  1. 1 to bear hardships and work hard (idiom); assiduous and long-suffering
  2. 2 hard-working and capable of overcoming adversity
力不胜任
lì bù shèng rèn
  1. 1 not to be up to the task (idiom)
  2. 2 incompetent
力不从心
lì bù cóng xīn
  1. 1 less capable than desirable (idiom); not as strong as one would wish
  2. 2 the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak
力所能及
lì suǒ néng jí
  1. 1 as far as one's capabilities extend (idiom); to the best of one's ability
  2. 2 within one's powers
力挽狂澜
lì wǎn kuáng lán
  1. 1 to pull strongly against a crazy tide (idiom); fig. to try hard to save a desperate crisis
力排众议
lì pái zhòng yì
  1. 1 to stand one's ground against the opinion of the masses (idiom)
力争上游
lì zhēng shàng yóu
  1. 1 to strive for mastery (idiom); aiming for the best result
  2. 2 to have high ambitions
力尽神危
lì jìn shén wēi
  1. 1 totally exhausted as result of overexertion (idiom)
助一臂之力
zhù yī bì zhī lì
  1. 1 to lend a helping hand (idiom)
努力以赴
nǔ lì yǐ fù
  1. 1 to use one's best efforts to do sth (idiom)
勉力而为
miǎn lì ér wéi
  1. 1 to try one's best to do sth (idiom)
势均力敌
shì jūn lì dí
  1. 1 evenly matched (idiom)
千辛万苦
qiān xīn wàn kǔ
  1. 1 to suffer untold hardships (idiom); trials and tribulations
  2. 2 with difficulty
  3. 3 after some effort

Sample Sentences

嗨！大家好！小刘我前阵子身体不太舒服，还好买到这台长生佛生机精华萃取机，我手上这台萃取机获得世界发明大奖，经过无数名人试用，叫好又叫座，有了它，可以做菜、做汤、做豆浆；给您做牛、做马、做苦力，小至豆苗、大至胡桃，没有它切不开、磨不碎的。
hāi ！dàjiā hǎo ！Xiǎo Liú wǒ qiánzhènzi shēntǐ bùtài shūfu ，hái hǎo mǎidào zhè tái chángshēngfó shēngjī jīnghuá cuìqǔ jī ，wǒ shǒushang zhè tái cuìqǔ jī huòdé shìjiè fāmíng dàjiǎng ，jīngguò wúshù míngrén shìyòng ，jiàohǎo yòu jiàozuò ，yǒu le tā ，kěyǐ zuòcài 、zuò tāng 、zuò dòujiāng ；gěi nín zuòniú 、zuòmǎ 、zuò kǔlì ，xiǎo zhì dòumiáo 、dà zhì hútáo ，méiyǒu tā qiē bù kāi 、mó bù suì de 。
Hi Everyone! I haven’t been feeling all that great recently, but luckily I managed to get my hands on the Immortal Buddha Vital Essence Extractor. This extractor has won global invention prizes and been tried out by countless celebrities. Its quality is reflected in its incredible sales. With it you can create dishes, make soup, make soybean milk; it can be your ox and your workhorse, it can do all the hard work. There's nothing it can't break open or grind up, from as small as bean sprout to as large as a walnut.
Go to Lesson 
那真是一个疯狂的时代啊！对了，淘金潮里也有很多中国人吧。但是大批中国人跑去美国是去当苦力，修建横贯美国东西的太平洋铁路。
nà zhēn shì yī gè fēngkuáng de shídài a ！duìle ，táojīn cháo lǐ yě yǒu hěnduō Zhōngguórén ba 。dànshì dàpī Zhōngguórén pǎo qù Měiguó shì qù dàng kǔlì ，xiūjiàn héngguàn Měiguó dōngxi de tàipíng yáng tiělù 。
That was really a crazy time! Oh, yeah-- there were also a lot of Chinese people in the gold rush, right? But a bunch of the Chinese went to America to work as coolie laborers. They built the Pacific rail line that goes across America from east to west.
Go to Lesson 
是啊！当时上海连签证都不要，外国人能自由出入。好多在国外混得平平的人，在上海白手起家，成了大资本家。相比之下，国内来上海讨生活的人就艰苦多了。好多人都是生活在最底层的苦力或是小商贩。
shì a ！dāngshí Shànghǎi lián qiānzhèng dōu bù yào ，wàiguórén néng zìyóu chūrù 。hǎoduō zài guówài hùn de píngpíng de rén ，zài Shànghǎi báishǒuqǐjiā ，chéng le dà zīběnjiā 。xiāngbǐzhīxià ，guónèi lái Shànghǎi tǎo shēnghuó de rén jiù jiānkù duō le 。hǎoduō rén dōu shì shēnghuó zài zuì dīcéng de kǔlì huòshì xiǎo shāngfàn 。
Yeah! At that time, you didn't even need a visa to come to Shanghai. Foreigners could come and go at will. A lot of people who were just muddling along came here from abroad. Starting from scratch, they became big capitalists. In comparison, Chinese who came to Shanghai to make their living had it a lot tougher. A lot of people lived on the lowest level of society, doing hard manual labor or working as small merchants.
Go to Lesson 
是。可是一下子从天堂掉进了地狱，那个滋味很不好受。那段日子过得很悲惨，因为我是太监，大家都看不起我。当苦力都没人要，还要处处遭受白眼。
shì 。kěshì yīxiàzi cóng tiāntáng diàojìn le dìyù ，nàge zīwèi hěn bù hǎoshòu 。nà duàn rìzi guò de hěn bēicǎn ，yīnwèi wǒ shì tàijiàn ，dàjiā dōu kànbuqǐ wǒ 。dāng kǔlì dōu méi rén yào ，hái yào chùchù zāoshòu báiyǎn 。
That's right. In a moment, heaven had fallen into hell and it wasn't easy to stomach. Those days were really miserable. Because I was a eunuch, everyone looked down on me. Nobody even wanted me as a coolie and once again, I was looked down upon by others in every way.
Go to Lesson