杯水车薪 bēi shuǐ chē xīn

far too little to fix a big problem

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency 38952nd word

Definitions

  1. 1. lit. a cup of water on a burning cart of firewood (idiom); fig. an utterly inadequate measure

Characters

Character Meaning
cup; trophy cup
water; liquid; beverage
vehicle; car; machine
salary; fuel