汗流浃背
hàn liú jiā bèi
drenched in sweat
Character by character
汗hàn
sweat
sweat
流liú
flow
flow
浃jiā
soak
soak
背bèi
back
back
Example
搬完家，几个小伙子都累得汗流浃背。
By the time the move was done, the young men were all dripping with sweat.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
In the 《后汉书》 曹操 leaves an audience with the emperor 汗流浃背, sweating with fear; today it is mostly heat or hard work, with 累得 or 热得 before it. 浃 (jiā) means to soak through.
Learn this in Lesson 143 · HSK 7–9: 去哪儿避暑 (Escaping the summer heat)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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