物尽其用
wù jìn qí yòng
to make the fullest use of everything
Character by character
物wù
thing
thing
尽jìn
exhaust
exhaust
其qí
its
its
用yòng
use
use
Example
奶奶从不浪费东西，旧毛巾剪开当抹布，真正做到了物尽其用。
Grandma never wastes a thing: old towels are cut up for cleaning cloths. She truly makes the most of everything.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
Often paired as 人尽其才，物尽其用, an echo of 孙中山’s 1894 letter to 李鸿章: 人能尽其才，地能尽其利，物能尽其用，货能畅其流.
Learn this in Lesson 12 · HSK 5: 小区生活与垃圾分类 (Life in the compound, and sorting the rubbish)
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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