- lit. to sleep on brushwood and taste gall (like King Gou Jian of Yue 勾踐|勾践[Gou1 Jian4]), in order to recall one's humiliations) (idiom)
- fig. to maintain one's resolve for revenge
Characters
- 卧 (臥): to lie; to crouch
- 薪 (薪): firewood; fuel; salary
- 尝 (嘗): to taste; to try (food); to experience; (literary) ever; once
- 胆 (膽): gall bladder; courage; guts; gall; inner container (e.g. bladder of a football, inner container of a thermos)
Resources
- Wiktionary: 卧薪尝胆
- MDBG: 卧薪尝胆
- Examples with 卧薪尝胆 on Tatoeba
Examples
No examples. Add one?