滚雪球

滾雪球

gǔn xuěqiú

verb #37,705

Meanings

1 to roll a snowball
2 to snowball; to grow exponentially (figurative)

Characters

Examples

HSK 3

孩子们在公园里滚雪球。

Háizimen zài gōngyuán lǐ gǔn xuěqiú.

The kids are rolling snowballs in the park.

HSK 5

如果不及时处理，问题会滚雪球。

Rúguǒ bù jíshí chǔlǐ, wèntí huì gǔn xuěqiú.

If we don't deal with it in time, the problem will snowball.

HSK 6

他的财富像滚雪球一样越滚越大。

Tā de cáifù xiàng gǔn xuěqiú yíyàng yuè gǔn yuè dà.

His wealth grew bigger and bigger like a rolling snowball.

Tips

usage

The figurative sense - wealth, debt, problems, or fanbases growing exponentially as they pick up momentum - is now more common in writing than the literal "roll a snowball." Warren Buffett's famous quote about compounding ("life is like a snowball") gave 滚雪球 a permanent home in Chinese investing literature.

Stroke Order

滚 gǔn

雪 xuě

球 qiú