Definition
家徒四壁 is a four-character idiom (chengyu) that literally means 'a home with only four walls'. It vividly describes extreme poverty — having nothing in the house except the walls. Use it to emphasize that someone is utterly destitute or has very few possessions.
f.e.
to be utterly destituteto have nothing but the walls in one's home
Examples
- 家徒四壁，。Tā yǐqián jiā, xiànzài chéng le fùwēng.He used to be utterly destitute, now he's a millionaire.
- ，。Nà shí tāmen jiā jiā, shēnghuó fēicháng jiānkǔ.At that time, their family had nothing but the walls; life was very hard.
- 家徒四壁，。Tā suīrán jiā, dàn cóng bù xiàng biérén jiè qián.Although he is utterly destitute, he never borrows money from others.
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