砸锅卖铁

砸鍋賣鐵
záguō-màitiě
idiom #56,840

Meanings

  1. 1 to smash the wok and sell the iron
  2. 2 to give up everything one has; to make any sacrifice for a goal

Examples

HSK 7-9
Wèile gěi nǚ'ér zhìbìng, tā záguōmàitiě yě zàisuǒbùxī.
To pay for his daughter's treatment, he was willing to sell everything he had.
HSK 7-9
Jiùsuàn záguōmàitiě, wǒmen yě yào gōng háizi shàng dàxué.
Even if we have to sacrifice everything, we'll put our child through university.

Tips

culture
The image is hyper-literal: in old peasant households, the iron wok was the most valuable household possession. Smashing and selling it as scrap meant truly nothing was left to give.
register
Colloquial and emotionally heavy - implies extreme determination or desperation. Often paired with 也要 ('even so, we must...') or 也在所不惜.

Stroke Order

guō
mài
tiě