點鐵成金 diǎn tiě chéng jīn

to turn poor work into a masterpiece

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. to touch base matter and turn it to gold (idiom); fig. to turn crude writing into a literary gem

Characters

Character Meaning
點 diǎn
o'clock; to order (food in a restaurant); point
鐵 tiě
iron (metal); hard; strong
成 chéng HSK 3
to become; to succeed; to complete
金 jīn HSK 4
gold; money; golden