📖 Meaning
Describes someone breathing faintly and weakly, on the very brink of death. It means clinging to life by the last thread, at one's last gasp. An alternative written form of the idiom 奄奄一息.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom appears in The Scholars (《儒林外史》), a satirical novel written by the Qing-dynasty author Wu Jingzi (吴敬梓) during the 18th century. In chapter fifteen, the character Ma Er (马二先生) is startled and rushes upstairs to check on a gravely ill companion. He finds the man already 淹淹一息, too weak even to lift his head. The vivid scene lent this written variant of 奄奄一息 its literary currency.
💡 Example Usage
他身受重伤，倒在血泊中已是淹淹一息。
He was badly wounded, lying in a pool of blood, already at his last gasp.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 淹淹一息
- Pinyin: yān yān yī xī
- Literal Translation: weakly, weakly, one breath
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4