老本
lǎo běn
Pinyin

Definition

老本
 - 
lǎo běn
  1. capital
  2. assets
  3. savings
  4. nest egg
  5. (fig.) reputation
  6. laurels (to rest upon)
  7. old edition of a book
  8. (tree) trunk

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

日本
Rì běn
  1. 1 Japan
本
běn
  1. 1 root
  2. 2 stem
  3. 3 origin
  4. 4 source
  5. 5 this
  6. 6 the current
  7. 7 original
  8. 8 inherent
  9. 9 originally
  10. 10 classifier for books, periodicals, files etc
本来
běn lái
  1. 1 original
  2. 2 originally
  3. 3 at first
  4. 4 it goes without saying
  5. 5 of course
根本
gēn běn
  1. 1 fundamental
  2. 2 basic
  3. 3 root
  4. 4 simply
  5. 5 absolutely (not)
  6. 6 (not) at all
  7. 7 CL:個|个[gè]
老
lǎo
  1. 1 prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity
  2. 2 old (of people)
  3. 3 venerable (person)
  4. 4 experienced
  5. 5 of long standing
  6. 6 always
  7. 7 all the time
  8. 8 of the past
  9. 9 very
  10. 10 outdated
  11. 11 (of meat etc) tough
老公
lǎo gōng
  1. 1 (coll.) husband
老婆
lǎo pó
  1. 1 (coll.) wife
老妈
lǎo mā
  1. 1 mother
  2. 2 mom
老子
Lǎo zǐ
  1. 1 Laozi or Lao-tze (c. 500 BC), Chinese philosopher, the founder of Taoism
  2. 2 the sacred book of Daoism, 道德經|道德经 by Laozi
老家
lǎo jiā
  1. 1 native place
  2. 2 place of origin
  3. 3 home state or region
老师
lǎo shī
  1. 1 teacher
  2. 2 CL:個|个[gè],位[wèi]
老板
lǎo bǎn
  1. 1 variant of 老闆|老板[lǎo bǎn]
老爸
lǎo bà
  1. 1 father
  2. 2 dad
偕老
xié lǎo
  1. 1 to grow old together
剧本
jù běn
  1. 1 script for play, opera, movie etc
  2. 2 screenplay
  3. 3 scenario
原本
yuán běn
  1. 1 originally
  2. 2 original
古老
gǔ lǎo
  1. 1 ancient
  2. 2 old
  3. 3 age-old
回老家
huí lǎo jiā
  1. 1 to go back to one's roots
  2. 2 to return to one's native place
  3. 3 by ext. to join one's ancestors (i.e. to die)
基本
jī běn
  1. 1 basic
  2. 2 fundamental
  3. 3 main
  4. 4 elementary
基本上
jī běn shang
  1. 1 basically
  2. 2 on the whole

Idioms (20)

一本万利
yī běn wàn lì
  1. 1 small capital, huge profit (idiom); to put in a little and get a lot out
一粒老鼠屎坏了一锅粥
yī lì lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō zhōu
  1. 1 lit. a piece of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of congee (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch
一颗老鼠屎坏了一锅汤
yī kē lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō tāng
  1. 1 lit. a piece of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of soup (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch
三句话不离本行
sān jù huà bù lí běn háng
  1. 1 to talk shop all the time (idiom)
上有老下有小
shàng yǒu lǎo xià yǒu xiǎo
  1. 1 lit. above are the elderly, below are the young (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to have to take care of both one's aging parents and one's children
  3. 3 sandwich generation
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
勤俭为服务之本
qín jiǎn wéi fú wù zhī běn
  1. 1 hardwork and thriftiness are the foundations of service (idiom)
报本反始
bào běn fǎn shǐ
  1. 1 ensure that you pay debts of gratitude (idiom)
天荒地老
tiān huāng dì lǎo
  1. 1 until the end of time (idiom)
家家有本难念的经
jiā jiā yǒu běn nán niàn de jīng
  1. 1 Every family goes through its problems. (idiom)
宝刀不老
bǎo dāo bù lǎo
  1. 1 lit. a good sword always remains sharp (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. (of one's skills etc) to be as good as ever
  3. 3 the old man still has it
宝刀未老
bǎo dāo wèi lǎo
  1. 1 treasure knife does not age (idiom); old but still vigorous
年老力衰
nián lǎo lì shuāi
  1. 1 old and weak (idiom)
年老体弱
nián lǎo tǐ ruò
  1. 1 old and weak (idiom)
慈悲为本
cí bēi wéi běn
  1. 1 mercy as the guiding principle (idiom); the Buddhist teaching that nothing is valid except compassion
舍本逐末
shě běn zhú mò
  1. 1 to neglect the root and pursue the tip (idiom)
  2. 2 to neglect fundamentals and concentrate on details
敬老尊贤
jìng lǎo zūn xián
  1. 1 to respect the wise and venerate the worthy (idiom); to honor the great and the good
本性难移
běn xìng nán yí
  1. 1 It is hard to change one's essential nature (idiom). You can't change who you are.
  2. 2 Can the leopard change his spots? (Jeremiah 13:23)
本末倒置
běn mò dào zhì
  1. 1 lit. to invert root and branch (idiom); fig. confusing cause and effect
  2. 2 to stress the incidental over the fundamental
  3. 3 to put the cart before the horse
江山易改，本性难移
jiāng shān yì gǎi , běn xìng nán yí
  1. 1 it is easier to change mountains and rivers than to alter one's character (idiom)
  2. 2 you can't change who you are
  3. 3 Can the leopard change his spots?

Sample Sentences

请教不敢当。我这可是久病成良医啊！我股海浮沉了大半辈子了，光是投进去的老本就够我买好几套象样的公寓了。
qǐngjiào bù gǎndāng 。wǒ zhè kě shì jiǔ ā ！wǒ gǔ hǎi fúchén le dàbànbèizi le ，guāngshì tóu jìnqù de lǎoběn jiù gòu wǒ mǎi hǎojǐ tào xiàngyàng de gōngyù le 。
I don't dare to pretend I've got anything to teach you. Anything I've learned has been due to bitter mistakes in the past! I've been speculating on the stock market for over half my life. The capital I've invested alone would be enough to buy several decent apartments.
Go to Lesson