tǎo shēng huódictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
to eke out a living / to live from hand to mouth / to drift aimlessly
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-235733c02bb12b25. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

討生活 讨生活 [tao3 sheng1 huo2] /to eke out a living/to live from hand to mouth/to drift aimlessly/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 討生活

  • 讨
    tǎo

    to invite / to provoke / to demand or ask for / to send armed forces to suppress / to denounce or condemn / to marry (a woman) / to discuss or study

  • 生
    shēng

    to grow / to give birth / to produce / to be born / to arise / to occur / to light (a fire) / to live / to be alive / life / raw / uncooked / unprocessed / unfamiliar / strange / (bound form) student / person engaged in a field / (bound form) male role in traditional opera / (bound form) life / lifetime / (bound form) means of livelihood / (bound form) very / intensely (as in 生疼[shēng téng]) / (bound form) in a forced manner (as in 生拉硬拽[shēng lā yìng zhuài])

  • 活
    huó

    to live / alive / living / work / workmanship

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.