千里之堤，溃于蚁穴 qiān lǐ zhī dī ， kuì yú yǐ xué

huge damage may result from a moment's negligence

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. huge damage may result from a moment's negligence
  2. 2. an ant hole may cause the collapse of a great dike (idiom)

Characters

Character Meaning
千 qiān HSK 2
thousand; see 秋千qiū qiān
里 lǐ HSK 1
inside; interior; internal
之 zhī HSK 4
(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的de); it
堤 dī HSK 6
dike; Taiwan pr. tí; variant of 堤dī
溃 kuì HSK 6
to break down; to be dispersed; to fester
于 yú HSK 3
at; in; to
蚁 yǐ HSK 6
ant
穴 xué HSK 6
hole; cave; cavity