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蜡烛两头烧

là zhú liǎng tóu shāodictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
to burn the candle at both ends (idiom) / to labor under a double burden
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-3cf43b961f830bda. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

蠟燭兩頭燒 蜡烛两头烧 [la4 zhu2 liang3 tou2 shao1] /to burn the candle at both ends (idiom)/to labor under a double burden/

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: 蠟燭兩頭燒

  • 蜡
    là

    candle / wax

  • 烛
    zhú

    candle / (literary) to illuminate

  • 两
    liǎng

    two / both / some / a few / tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤[jīn] (old)

  • 头
    tóu

    head / hair style / the top / end / beginning or end / a stub / remnant / chief / boss / side / aspect / first / leading / classifier for pigs or livestock / CL:個|个[gè]

    tou

    suffix for nouns

  • 烧
    shāo

    to burn / to set on fire / to heat (over a fire) / to boil (water, tea etc) / to braise / to cook / to prepare food / to run a fever / fever / (coll.) to become full of oneself / to get carried away

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.