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砸鍋賣鐵

简 砸锅卖铁 · 繁 砸鍋賣鐵
Mandarin · pinyin zá guō mài tiě

Meanings

  1. to be willing to sacrifice everything one has (idiom)
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Characters in this entry

砸
zá · smash, crush, break; pound, mash
鍋
Look up this written character
賣
Look up this written character
鐵
Look up this written character
锅
guō · cooking-pot, saucepan
卖
mài · sell; betray; show off
铁
tiě · iron; strong, solid, firm
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Entries containing 砸鍋賣鐵 ↗Words written with 砸 ↗Words written with 鍋 ↗Words written with 賣 ↗Words written with 鐵 ↗Words written with 锅 ↗Words written with 卖 ↗Words written with 铁 ↗

Mandarin tones

2–1–4–3 · za2 guo1 mai4 tie3

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

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Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zaap3 wo1 maai6 tit3

Cantonese word readings for 砸鍋賣鐵. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

zaap3 wo1 maai6 tit3

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

  1. (literal) to smash pots and pans and sell the iron
  2. (figurative) to give away all one has; to spend one's last penny

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack