一盘散沙
yī pán sǎn shā
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1 lit. like a sheet of loose sand
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2 fig. unable to cooperate (idiom)
三天不打，上房揭瓦
sān tiān bù dǎ , shàng fáng jiē wǎ
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1 three days without a beating, and a child will scale the roof to rip the tiles (idiom)
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2 spare the rod, spoil the child
各人自扫门前雪，莫管他家瓦上霜
gè rén zì sǎo mén qián xuě , mò guǎn tā jiā wǎ shàng shuāng
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1 sweep the snow from your own door step, don't worry about the frost on your neighbor's roof (idiom)
含沙射影
hán shā shè yǐng
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1 to attack someone by innuendo (idiom)
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2 to make oblique charges
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3 to make insinuations
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4 to insinuate
宁为玉碎，不为瓦全
nìng wéi yù suì , bù wéi wǎ quán
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1 Better broken jade than intact tile.
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2 Death is preferable to dishonor. (idiom)
封沙育林
fēng shā yù lín
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1 to plant trees in order to stabilize sand (idiom)
恒河沙数
Héng hé shā shù
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1 countless as the grains of sand in the Ganges (idiom)
战死沙场
zhàn sǐ shā chǎng
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1 to die in battle (idiom)
沙盘推演
shā pán tuī yǎn
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1 to plan a military mission on a sand table (idiom)
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2 to rehearse a planned action or activity
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3 to conduct a dry run
泥沙俱下
ní shā jù xià
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1 mud and sand flow together (idiom)
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2 good and bad mingle
添砖加瓦
tiān zhuān jiā wǎ
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1 lit. contribute bricks and tiles for a building (idiom)
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2 fig. to do one's bit to help
眼里容不得沙子
yǎn lǐ róng bu dé shā zi
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1 can't bear having grit in one's eye (idiom)
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2 unable to put sth objectionable out of one's mind
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3 not prepared to turn a blind eye
聚沙成塔
jù shā chéng tǎ
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1 sand grains accumulate to make a tower a tower (idiom); by gathering small amounts one gets a huge quantity
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2 many a mickle makes a muckle
风中烛，瓦上霜
fēng zhōng zhú , wǎ shàng shuāng
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1 lit. like a candle in the wind, or frost on the roof (idiom)
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2 fig. (of sb's life) feeble
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3 hanging on a thread
黄钟毁弃瓦釜雷鸣
huáng zhōng huǐ qì wǎ fǔ léi míng
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1 lit. earthern pots make more noise than classical bells
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2 good men are discarded in favor of bombastic ones (idiom)