功虧一簣 gōng kuī yī kuì

DEFINITIONS

  1. lit. to ruin the enterprise for the sake of one basketful
  2. to fail through lack of a final effort
  3. to spoil the ship for a ha'penny worth of tar (idiom)

CHARACTERS

功 gōng
HSK 4
achievement, merit, good result
虧 kuī lose, fail; damage; deficient
一 yī
HSK 1
one; a, an; alone
簣 kuì a bamboo basket for carrying earth