1 to devote oneself to spiritual development (esp. Buddhism or Daoism)
2 to devote oneself to perfecting one's art or craft
Idioms (15)
不修边幅
bù xiū biān fú
1 not care about one's appearance (idiom)
2 slovenly in dress and manner
修心养性
xiū xīn yǎng xìng
1 to cultivate the heart and nurture the character (idiom); to improve oneself by meditation
净心修身
jìng xīn xiū shēn
1 to have an untroubled heart and behave morally (idiom)
向壁虚造
xiàng bì xū zào
1 facing a wall, an imaginary construction (idiom); baseless fabrication
天造地设
tiān zào dì shè
1 lit. made by Heaven and arranged by Earth(idiom)
2 ideal
3 perfect
4 (of a match) made in heaven
5 to be made for one another
年久失修
nián jiǔ shī xiū
1 old and in a state of disrepair (idiom)
2 dilapidated
恩同再造
ēn tóng zài zào
1 your favor amounts to being given a new lease on life (idiom)
凭空捏造
píng kōng niē zào
1 fabrication relying on nothing (idiom); frame-up
救人一命胜造七级浮屠
jiù rén yī mìng shèng zào qī jí fú tú
1 saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-floor pagoda (idiom)
明修栈道,暗渡陈仓
míng xiū zhàn dào , àn dù Chén cāng
1 lit. repair the plank road by day while secretly crossing the Wei River 渭河[Wèi Hé] at Chencang (idiom, refers to a stratagem used by Liu Bang 劉邦|刘邦[Liú Bāng] in 206 BC against Xiang Yu 項羽|项羽[Xiàng Yǔ] of Chu)
2 fig. to feign one thing while doing another
3 to cheat under cover of a diversion
时势造英雄
shí shì zào yīng xióng
1 Time makes the man (idiom). The trend of events brings forth the hero.
粗制滥造
cū zhì làn zào
1 to churn out large quantities without regard for quality (idiom); rough and slipshod work
胡编乱造
hú biān luàn zào
1 to concoct a cock-and-bull story (idiom)
2 to make things up
造茧自缚
zào jiǎn zì fù
1 to spin a cocoon around oneself (idiom); enmeshed in a trap of one's own devising
2 hoist with his own petard
闭门造车
bì mén zào chē
1 lit. to build a cart behind closed doors
2 to be overly subjective and disregard the outside world (idiom)
Sample Sentences
Free for members
Build your personal vocabulary!
With ChinesePod, you can not only build your vocabulary but also practice Chinese characters in our writing app!