p8nda
p8nda BETA
Home Dictionary Discord

天寒地冻

天寒地凍
tiānhándìdòng
idiom #40,713

Meanings

  1. 1 bitterly cold weather
  2. 2 the sky is cold and the ground is frozen
  3. 3 frigid

Examples

天寒地冻，路上行人很少。
Tiānhándìdòng, lù shàng xíngrén hěn shǎo.
It was bitterly cold and there were few people on the street.
东北的冬天天寒地冻，滴水成冰。
Dōngběi de dōngtiān tiānhándìdòng, dīshuǐchéngbīng.
In Northeast China's winter, it's so cold that water freezes the moment it drops.
即使天寒地冻，他也坚持每天晨练。
Jíshǐ tiānhándìdòng, tā yě jiānchí měitiān chénliàn.
Even in bitter cold, he insists on his morning exercise every day.

Tips

history
From Shi Nai'an's Ming-dynasty 《水浒全传》 第六十五回: 目今天寒地冻，军马难以久住 — 'right now with the sky cold and the ground frozen, the troops can hardly stay long.' Already a set phrase by the Ming.
memory
Perfectly parallel structure: 天 (sky) + 寒 (cold), 地 (earth) + 冻 (frozen). The whole world, top and bottom, frozen stiff.

Stroke Order

天 tiān
寒 hán
地 dì
冻 dòng