势如破竹

勢如破竹

shìrúpòzhú

idiom #43,313

Meanings

1 with the force of splitting bamboo
2 sweeping all before one; irresistible; unstoppable momentum

Characters

momentum; force

to split; break

Examples

这支球队势如破竹，一路打进决赛。

Zhè zhī qiúduì shì rú pò zhú, yīlù dǎ jìn juésài.

This team cut through everyone on their way to the final.

新产品上市后销量势如破竹。

Xīn chǎnpǐn shàngshì hòu xiāoliàng shì rú pò zhú.

Once the new product launched, sales took off unstoppably.

大军势如破竹，很快就收复了失地。

Dàjūn shì rú pò zhú, hěn kuài jiù shōufù le shīdì.

The army swept forward irresistibly and soon reclaimed the lost territory.

Tips

history

From 《晋书·杜预传》. Before the final campaign against Wu, Jin general Du Yu (杜预) rallied his officers: '今兵威已振，譬如破竹，数节之后，皆迎刃而解' — 'our momentum is like splitting bamboo: after the first few joints, the rest splits at the touch of the blade.' Wu fell shortly after.

memory

Bamboo has joints (节). Split the top few and the whole stalk splits down the grain on its own. That cascading, unstoppable split is the image of 势如破竹 — momentum so strong that resistance collapses ahead of you.

Stroke Order

势 shì

如 rú

破 pò

竹 zhú