吃苦头
chī kǔ tou
Pinyin

Definition

吃苦头
 - 
chī kǔ tou
  1. to suffer
  2. to suffer for one's actions
  3. to pay dearly
  4. to burn one's fingers

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

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])
hé kǔ
  1. 1 why bother?
  2. 2 is it worth the trouble?
chī chī
  1. 1 (onom.) sound of muffled laughter (chuckling, tittering etc)
  2. 2 sound of stammering
chī hē wán lè
  1. 1 to eat, drink and be merry (idiom)
  2. 2 to abandon oneself to a life of pleasure
chī wán
  1. 1 to finish eating
chī diào
  1. 1 to eat up
  2. 2 to consume
chī kǔ
  1. 1 to bear hardships
chī yào
  1. 1 to take medicine
chī kuī
  1. 1 to suffer losses
  2. 2 to come to grief
  3. 3 to lose out
  4. 4 to get the worst of it
  5. 5 to be at a disadvantage
  6. 6 unfortunately
chī cù
  1. 1 to feel jealous
chī fàn
  1. 1 to have a meal
  2. 2 to eat
  3. 3 to make a living
chī bǎo
  1. 1 to eat one's fill
dà chī dà hē
  1. 1 to eat and drink as much as one likes
  2. 2 to make a pig of oneself
hǎo chī
  1. 1 tasty
  2. 2 delicious
xiǎo chī
  1. 1 snack
  2. 2 refreshments
  3. 3 CL:家[jiā]
tòng kǔ
  1. 1 pain
  2. 2 suffering
  3. 3 painful
  4. 4 CL:個|个[gè]
jiān kǔ
  1. 1 difficult
  2. 2 hard
  3. 3 arduous
  1. 1 bitter
  2. 2 hardship
  3. 3 pain
  4. 4 to suffer
  5. 5 to bring suffering to
  6. 6 painstakingly
kǔ nǎo
  1. 1 vexed
  2. 2 distressed
kǔ sè
  1. 1 bitter and astringent
  2. 2 pained
  3. 3 agonized

Idioms (20)

不胜其苦
bù shèng qí kǔ
  1. 1 unable to bear the pain (idiom)
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
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)
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.
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
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
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
叫苦不迭
jiào kǔ bu dié
  1. 1 to complain without stopping (idiom); to bitch endlessly
  2. 2 incessant grievances
叫苦连天
jiào kǔ lián tiān
  1. 1 to whine on for days (idiom)
  2. 2 to endlessly grumble complaints
  3. 3 incessant whining
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)

Sample Sentences