拼死拼活

pīnsǐpīnhuó

adverb #28,165

Meanings

1 to fight or work desperately hard
2 at all costs
3 putting one's life on the line

Characters

to risk; to go all out

to risk; to go all out

Examples

他拼死拼活地工作，就是为了给家人更好的生活。

Tā pīnsǐpīnhuó de gōngzuò, jiùshì wèile gěi jiārén gèng hǎo de shēnghuó.

He worked his hardest, all for the sake of giving his family a better life.

大家拼死拼活才把这个项目完成。

Dàjiā pīnsǐpīnhuó cái bǎ zhège xiàngmù wánchéng.

Everyone worked desperately hard to finally finish this project.

Tips

memory

拼死 means 'to stake one's life' and 拼活 mirrors it — dead or alive, you're giving it everything. The repeated 拼 adds intensity to the do-or-die commitment.

Stroke Order

拼 pīn

死 sǐ

活 huó