白手起家
bái shǒu qǐ jiā
Pinyin

Definition

白手起家
 - 
bái shǒu qǐ jiā
  1. to build up from nothing
  2. to start from scratch

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

一起
yī qǐ
  1. 1 in the same place
  2. 2 together
  3. 3 with
  4. 4 altogether (in total)
家
jiā
  1. 1 see 傢伙|家伙[jiā huo]
回家
huí jiā
  1. 1 to return home
在一起
zài yī qǐ
  1. 1 together
大家
dà jiā
  1. 1 everyone
  2. 2 influential family
  3. 3 great expert
家人
jiā rén
  1. 1 household
  2. 2 (one's) family
想起
xiǎng qǐ
  1. 1 to recall
  2. 2 to think of
  3. 3 to call to mind
手
shǒu
  1. 1 hand
  2. 2 (formal) to hold
  3. 3 person engaged in certain types of work
  4. 4 person skilled in certain types of work
  5. 5 personal(ly)
  6. 6 convenient
  7. 7 classifier for skill
  8. 8 CL:雙|双[shuāng],隻|只[zhī]
手机
shǒu jī
  1. 1 cell phone
  2. 2 mobile phone
  3. 3 CL:部[bù],支[zhī]
明白
míng bai
  1. 1 clear
  2. 2 obvious
  3. 3 unequivocal
  4. 4 to understand
  5. 5 to realize
玩家
wán jiā
  1. 1 player (of a game)
  2. 2 enthusiast (audio, model planes etc)
发起
fā qǐ
  1. 1 to originate
  2. 2 to initiate
  3. 3 to launch (an attack, an initiative etc)
  4. 4 to start
  5. 5 to propose sth (for the first time)
白
Bái
  1. 1 surname Bai
起
qǐ
  1. 1 to rise
  2. 2 to raise
  3. 3 to get up
  4. 4 to set out
  5. 5 to start
  6. 6 to appear
  7. 7 to launch
  8. 8 to initiate (action)
  9. 9 to draft
  10. 10 to establish
  11. 11 to get (from a depot or counter)
  12. 12 verb suffix, to start
  13. 13 starting from (a time, place, price etc)
  14. 14 classifier for occurrences or unpredictable events: case, instance
  15. 15 classifier for groups: batch, group
起来
qǐ lai
  1. 1 to stand up
  2. 2 to get up
  3. 3 also pr. [qǐ lái]
起床
qǐ chuáng
  1. 1 to get out of bed
  2. 2 to get up
一手
yī shǒu
  1. 1 a skill
  2. 2 mastery of a trade
  3. 3 by oneself
  4. 4 without outside help
上手
shàng shǒu
  1. 1 to obtain
  2. 2 to master
  3. 3 overhand (serve etc)
  4. 4 seat of honor
下手
xià shǒu
  1. 1 to start
  2. 2 to put one's hand to
  3. 3 to set about
  4. 4 the seat to the right of the main guest
了不起
liǎo bu qǐ
  1. 1 amazing
  2. 2 terrific
  3. 3 extraordinary

Idioms (20)

一手交钱，一手交货
yī shǒu jiāo qián , yī shǒu jiāo huò
  1. 1 lit. one hand exchanges the cash, the other the goods (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to pay for what you want in cash
  3. 3 simple and direct transaction
一波未平，一波又起
yī bō wèi píng , yī bō yòu qǐ
  1. 1 before the first wave subsides, a new wave rises (idiom); a new problem arises before the old is solved
  2. 2 many twists and turns to a story
  3. 3 one thing after another
一清二白
yī qīng èr bái
  1. 1 perfectly clean
  2. 2 blameless
  3. 3 unimpeachable (idiom)
一病不起
yī bìng bù qǐ
  1. 1 to fall gravely ill, never to recover (idiom)
七手八脚
qī shǒu bā jiǎo
  1. 1 (idiom) with everyone lending a hand (eagerly but somewhat chaotically)
上下其手
shàng xià qí shǒu
  1. 1 to raise and lower one's hand (idiom); to signal as conspiratorial hint
  2. 2 fig. conspiring to defraud
不分皂白
bù fēn zào bái
  1. 1 not distinguishing black or white (idiom); not to distinguish between right and wrong
不分青红皂白
bù fēn qīng hóng zào bái
  1. 1 not distinguishing red-green or black-white (idiom)
  2. 2 not to distinguish between right and wrong
不问青红皂白
bù wèn qīng hóng zào bái
  1. 1 not distinguishing red-green or black-white (idiom)
  2. 2 not to distinguish between right and wrong
不怕神一样的对手，就怕猪一样的队友
bù pà shén yī yàng de duì shǒu , jiù pà zhū yī yàng de duì yǒu
  1. 1 a boneheaded teammate can do you more harm than the most formidable opponent (idiom)
不是一家人不进一家门
bù shì yī jiā rén bù jìn yī jiā mén
  1. 1 people who don't belong together, don't get to live together (idiom)
  2. 2 marriages are predestined
  3. 3 people marry because they share common traits
不是冤家不聚头
bù shì yuān jiā bù jù tóu
  1. 1 destiny will make enemies meet (idiom)
  2. 2 (often said about lovers who have a disagreement)
不当家不知柴米贵
bù dāng jiā bù zhī chái mǐ guì
  1. 1 a person who doesn't manage a household would not be aware how expensive it is (idiom)
事不关己，高高挂起
shì bù guān jǐ , gāo gāo guà qǐ
  1. 1 to feel unconcerned and let matters rest (idiom)
事怕行家
shì pà háng jiā
  1. 1 an expert always produces the best work (idiom)
五百年前是一家
wǔ bǎi nián qián shì yī jiā
  1. 1 five hundred years ago we were the same family (idiom) (said of persons with the same surname)
人有失手，马有失蹄
rén yǒu shī shǒu , mǎ yǒu shī tí
  1. 1 lit. just as humans make mistakes, so can a horse stumble (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. everyone makes mistakes
  3. 3 even the best fall down sometimes
人给家足
rén jǐ jiā zú
  1. 1 lit. each household provided for, enough for the individual (idiom); comfortably off
任凭风浪起，稳坐钓鱼台
rèn píng fēng làng qǐ , wěn zuò diào yú tái
  1. 1 lit. sitting at ease in a fishing boat despite wind and storm (idiom); to stay calm during tense situation
  2. 2 a cool head in a crisis
伸手不见五指
shēn shǒu bù jiàn wǔ zhǐ
  1. 1 pitch-dark (idiom)

Sample Sentences

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.
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很多白手起家的大老板江湖味都很重。
hěn duō báishǒuqǐjiā de dà lǎobǎn jiānghúwèi dōu hěn zhòng 。
A lot of bosses that started/came from nothing give off a strong gangsta vibe
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小李，不错啊，白手起家，现在已经有了五家门店了。
Xiǎo Lǐ ，bùcuò a ，báishǒuqǐjiā ，xiànzài yǐjīng yǒu le wǔ jiā méndiàn le 。
Xiao Li, not bad. You started completely from scratch and now you already have 5 shops.
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