砸锅卖铁

砸鍋賣鐵
záguōmàitiě
idiom #56,840

Meanings

  1. 1 to smash the wok and sell the iron
  2. 2 to give up everything one has; to make any sacrifice for a goal

Examples

Wèile gěi nǚ'ér zhì bìng, tā záguōmàitiě yě zài suǒ bù xī.
To pay for his daughter's treatment, he was willing to sell everything he had.
Jiùsuàn záguōmàitiě, wǒmen yě yào gōng háizi shàng dàxué.
Even if we have to sacrifice everything, we'll put our child through university.

Tips

culture
The image is hyper-literal: in old peasant households, the iron wok was the most valuable household possession. Smashing and selling it as scrap meant truly nothing was left to give.
register
Colloquial and emotionally heavy — implies extreme determination or desperation. Often paired with ('even so, we must...') or 在所不惜.

Stroke Order

guō
mài
tiě