未雨綢繆 wèi yǔ chóu móu

to prepare for a rainy day

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. to prepare for a rainy day
  2. 2. lit. before it rains, bind around with silk (idiom, from Book of Songs 诗经shī jīng); fig. to plan ahead

Characters

Character Meaning
未 wèi HSK 5
not yet; not; have not
雨 yǔ HSK 1
rain; to rain; (of rain, snow etc) to fall
綢 chóu
(light) silk
繆 móu
to wind round; old variant of 穆mù; surname Miao