焚膏继晷

焚膏繼晷
féngāo-jìguǐ
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 to burn the midnight oil
  2. 2 to work day and night

Examples

HSK 3
Wèile zhǔnbèi kǎoshì, tā féngāo-jìguǐ de fùxí.
To prepare for the exam, he studied day and night.
HSK 4
Kēxuéjiāmen féngāo-jìguǐ, zhōngyú wánchéng le zhè xiàng yánjiū.
The scientists worked day and night and finally finished the research.

Tips

history
From 韩愈's 《进学解》, which pictures a scholar who "burns lamp oil to carry on the daylight, toiling year after year". 膏 is lamp oil and 晷 the sundial, so the daylight it measures.
register
Literary. In speech people say 夜以继日 "night after day" or 开夜车 "to pull an all-nighter".

Stroke Order

焚 fén
膏 gāo
继 jì
晷 guǐ