节 jié
- Strokes
- 5
- Radical
- 艹 — grass, weed, plant, herb
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
节衣缩食
jiéyīsuōshí
to live frugally; to economise on food and clothing
Characters in this word
衣 yī
- Strokes
- 6
- Radical
- 衣 — cloth
- How it's built
- Pictograph — a drawing of the thing
缩 suō
- Strokes
- 14
- Radical
- 纟 — silk
- Made of
- 纟 silk 宿 to stop, to rest, to lodge
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
食 shí
- Strokes
- 9
- Radical
- 食 — food
- How it's built
- Pictograph — a drawing of the thing
Example phrases
- 为了供孩子上学，他们一家人节衣缩食，从不乱花钱。 Wèile gōng háizi shàngxué, tāmen yì jiā rén jiéyīsuōshí, cóng bù luàn huā qián. To pay for their child's schooling, the whole family lived frugally and never spent money carelessly.
- 他年轻时节衣缩食，攒了好几年钱才买下这间小房子。 Tā niánqīng shí jiéyīsuōshí, zǎn le hǎo jǐ nián qián cái mǎixià zhè jiān xiǎo fángzi. When he was young he lived frugally, saving for several years before he could buy this small flat.
- 奶奶一辈子节衣缩食，却总是舍得给孙子买新书。 Nǎinai yíbèizi jiéyīsuōshí, què zǒngshì shěde gěi sūnzi mǎi xīn shū. Grandma has lived frugally all her life, yet she is always happy to buy her grandson new books.