蚁穴

蟻穴

yǐxué

noun #46,138

Meanings

1 ant nest
2 anthill
3 (figuratively) a small flaw that causes big disaster

Characters

hole / cave / nest

Examples

院子里有个蚁穴，得处理一下。

Yuànzi lǐ yǒu ge yǐxué, děi chǔlǐ yíxià.

There's an ant nest in the yard; we need to deal with it.

千里之堤，溃于蚁穴。

Qiān lǐ zhī dī, kuì yú yǐxué.

A thousand-mile dike collapses because of an ant hole.

别小看这个小问题，蚁穴也能毁大堤。

Bié xiǎokàn zhè ge xiǎo wèntí, yǐxué yě néng huǐ dà dī.

Don't underestimate this small problem; an anthill can destroy a great dike.

Tips

history

From Han Feizi 《韩非子·喻老》: 千丈之堤，以蝼蚁之穴溃 — a thousand-foot dike collapses through a tiny ant hole. 蚁穴 became the classic metaphor for small oversights leading to major failure.

Stroke Order

蚁 yǐ

穴 xué