一败涂地

一敗塗地

yībài-túdì

idiom #16,046

Meanings

1 to suffer a crushing defeat
2 to be utterly defeated; to fail completely

Characters

to lose; to be defeated

to smear; to spread

Examples

这次比赛我们输得一败涂地。

Zhècì bǐsài wǒmen shū de yībàitúdì.

We suffered a crushing defeat in this match.

他的创业计划一败涂地。

Tā de chuàngyè jìhuà yībàitúdì.

His startup plan failed completely.

Tips

history

Literally 'one defeat, the ground smeared (with blood/bodies).' From the Records of the Grand Historian (史记), describing a battlefield so devastated that the ground was covered with the fallen. Used today for any total, humiliating failure.

Stroke Order

一 yī

败 bài

涂 tú

地 dì