奄奄一息
yǎn yǎn yī xī
at one's last gasp; barely alive
Character by character
奄yǎn
faint
faint
奄yǎn
faint
faint
一yī
one
one
息xī
breath
breath
Example
那只小狗被人发现时已经奄奄一息，幸亏及时送到了宠物医院，才活了下来。
When the puppy was found it was barely alive; only because it was rushed to a vet in time did it pull through.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
Describes a person or animal close to death, and figuratively a dying business or tradition: 这家老厂已经奄奄一息. The four-character form appears in Feng Menglong's novel 《东周列国志》 (chapter 87), but the image is older: Li Mi's 《陈情表》 (3rd century) says of his grandmother 气息奄奄 (her breath grows faint).
Learn this in Lesson 154 · HSK 7–9: 拨打120 (Calling 120)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. This lesson is free.
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