挥汗成雨

揮汗成雨

huīhàn-chéngyǔ

idiom

Meanings

1 the swept-off sweat falls like rain
2 a huge crowd; (also) drenched in sweat from heat or exertion

Characters

to wave; to wipe away

Examples

HSK 7-9

夏天的庙会上人山人海，挥汗成雨。

Xiàtiān de miàohuì shàng rénshānrénhǎi, huīhànchéngyǔ.

At the summer temple fair the crowd was so dense that the sweat fell like rain.

HSK 7-9

运动员在烈日下挥汗成雨。

Yùndòngyuán zài lièrì xià huīhànchéngyǔ.

The athletes were drenched in sweat under the blazing sun.

Tips

history

From 战国策·齐策一 ('Strategies of the Warring States, Qi Strategies I'): 连衽成帷，举袂成幕，挥汗成雨 - 'their robes joined into a curtain, their sleeves raised into a tent, their flicked-off sweat fell like rain.' The phrase originally evoked the bustling crowds of the Qi capital Linzi (临淄).

usage

Two flavors of usage: (1) hyperbolic for huge crowds - the original sense; (2) literal for being drenched in sweat. Modern writing leans on the second.

Stroke Order

挥 huī

汗 hàn

成 chéng

雨 yǔ