贫无立锥之地

Traditional form:

貧無立錐之地

Pinyin (reading):

pínwúlìzhuīzhīdì

Definitions:

• not even enough land to stand an awl (idiom); absolutely destitute

Characters:

• 贫 - poor, needy, impoverished; lacking
• 无 - no, not; lacking, -less
• 立 - to stand; to establish, to set up
• 锥 - gimlet, drill, awl; to drill, to bore
• 之 - marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; to go to
• 地 - earth, ground, soil; land, region; structural particle used before a verb

Traditional characters:

• 貧 - poor, needy, impoverished; lacking
• 無 - no, not; lacking, -less
• 立 - to stand; to establish, to set up
• 錐 - gimlet, drill, awl; to drill, to bore
• 之 - marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; to go to
• 地 - earth, ground, soil; land, region; structural particle used before a verb