饥寒交迫

飢寒交迫
jīhánjiāopò
idiom #32,623

Meanings

  1. 1 suffering from hunger and cold
  2. 2 destitute
  3. 3 cold and starving

Examples

Zhànluàn niándài, xǔduō bǎixìng guò zhe jī hán jiāo pò de shēnghuó.
In times of war, many ordinary people lived lives of hunger and cold.
Nà zhī liúlàng gǒu kàn shàngqù jī hán jiāo pò, jí xū bāngzhù.
The stray dog looked starving and frozen; it urgently needed help.

Tips

history
Recorded in 《》 as the response of a thief caught by the authorities: 饥寒交迫所以 ('hunger and cold bore down on me, so I stole'). The phrase has long been used to describe extreme poverty.

Stroke Order

hán
jiāo