老泪纵横

老淚縱橫

lǎolèi-zònghéng

idiom #63,244

Meanings

老人听到儿子平安的消息，激动得老泪纵横。

Lǎorén tīngdào érzi píng'ān de xiāoxi, jīdòng de lǎolèi-zònghéng.

Hearing his son was safe, the old man was so overcome that tears streamed down his face.

他站在父亲的墓前，老泪纵横。

Tā zhàn zài fùqīn de mù qián, lǎolèi-zònghéng.

Standing before his father's grave, he wept, tears coursing down his aged cheeks.

见到失散多年的战友，他老泪纵横。

Jiàndào shīsàn duōnián de zhànyǒu, tā lǎolèi-zònghéng.

On seeing the comrade he'd been separated from for decades, the old man's face was streaked with tears.

usage

Reserved for elderly subjects — 老 is not decorative here but means 'old (person's)'. For a young person crying similarly, use 泪流满面 or 热泪盈眶 instead.

memory

纵 = vertical, 横 = horizontal. 纵横 together means 'crisscrossing'. Picture tear tracks running both down and across the deep lines of an old face.

老 lǎo

泪 lèi

纵 zòng

横 héng