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滴水穿石

dīshuǐchuānshí
idiom #85,508

Meanings

  1. 1 dripping water wears through stone
  2. 2 persistence overcomes any obstacle
  3. 3 constant effort brings success

Examples

学习外语靠的是滴水穿石的功夫。
Xuéxí wàiyǔ kào de shì dīshuǐchuānshí de gōngfū.
Learning a foreign language relies on water-wearing-stone persistence.
他用滴水穿石的精神攻克了难题。
Tā yòng dīshuǐchuānshí de jīngshén gōngkèle nántí.
With dogged persistence, he solved the hard problem.

Tips

history
Shortened from 宋·罗大经《鹤林玉露》: 绳锯木断，水滴石穿 ('a rope saws through wood, water drips through stone').
memory
Almost identical in meaning to English 'constant dripping wears away the stone' — a rare case of near-perfect translation.

Stroke Order

滴 dī
水 shuǐ
穿 chuān
石 shí