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相濡以沫

xiāngrúyǐmò
idiom #39,095

Meanings

  1. 1 to moisten each other with spittle (like stranded fish)
  2. 2 to support and sustain each other in hard times

Examples

HSK 4
这对老夫妻一生相濡以沫。
Zhè duì lǎo fūqī yìshēng xiāngrúyǐmò.
This elderly couple supported each other through thick and thin their whole lives.
HSK 5
在最艰难的日子里，他们相濡以沫地活了下来。
Zài zuì jiānnán de rìzi lǐ, tāmen xiāngrúyǐmò de huó le xiàlái.
Through the hardest days, they survived by supporting each other.
HSK 7-9
他们虽然清贫，但相濡以沫，十分幸福。
Tāmen suīrán qīngpín, dàn xiāngrúyǐmò, shífēn xìngfú.
Though poor, they sustained each other in love and were very happy.

Tips

history
From 《庄子·大宗师》 (Zhuangzi, Warring States): 泉涸，鱼相与处于陆，相呴以湿，相濡以沫，不如相忘于江湖 - 'when the spring dries up, fish stranded on land moisten each other with damp breath and spit; better had they forgotten each other in the rivers and lakes.' The original point was paradoxical - true freedom is not needing mutual rescue - but modern usage keeps only the tender half.
usage
Almost always about long-enduring couples who weathered poverty or hardship together. The full Zhuangzi passage is sometimes quoted to invert the sentiment (不如相忘于江湖 - better to forget each other in freedom), but on its own the idiom is unambiguously warm.

Stroke Order

相 xiāng
濡 rú
以 yǐ
沫 mò