一發不可收拾 yī fā bù kě shōu shi

DEFINITIONS

  1. once it gets started there's no stopping it

CHARACTERS

一 yī
HSK 1
one; a, an; alone
發 fā issue, dispatch, send out, emit
不 bù
HSK 1
no, not; un-; negative prefix
可 kě
HSK 2
may, can, -able; possibly
收 shōu
HSK 4
gather together, collect; harvest
拾 shi
HSK 4
pick up, collect, tidy up; accounting form of the numeral ten