📖 Meaning
To exhaust one's mental and physical energy on something. It describes putting in great effort and enduring hardship to accomplish a task, often with a sense of the toll it takes on oneself.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the modern Chinese writer Ma Feng's novel 'The Sun Just Rose Above the Mountain' (太阳刚刚出山). In the story, a character laments that despite having devoted tremendous effort and energy to agricultural work, the organization was left with an unfavorable impression of him. The phrase captures the frustration of expending great effort without achieving the desired recognition or result.
💡 Example Usage
他熬心费力地把这事儿办成了，到头来却没得到一句感谢。
He exhausted himself mentally and physically to get this done, only to receive not a single word of thanks in the end.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 熬心费力
- Pinyin: áo xīn fèi lì
- Literal Translation: endure heart, expend strength
- Category: Perseverance
- Characters: 4