小洞不堵，大洞难补 xiǎo dòng bù dǔ ， dà dòng nán bǔ

fix small problems early; act before it’s big

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. If you don't plug the small hole, the big hole will be hard to repair (idiom); A stitch in time saves nine.

Characters

Character Meaning
小 xiǎo HSK 1
small; young; tiny
洞 dòng HSK 5
cave; hole
不 bù HSK 1
not; no; (negative prefix)
堵 dǔ HSK 4
to block up (a road, pipe etc); to stop up (a hole)
大 dà HSK 1
big; large; great
洞 dòng HSK 5
cave; hole
难 nán HSK 3
difficult; difficult (to...); difficulty
补 bǔ HSK 5
to make up for; to supplement; to repair