一生懸命 (with all one's might)

idiom

38 sentences

A four-character compound (四字熟語) literally 'stake one's whole life,' meaning 'with all one's might,' 'wholeheartedly,' 'desperately,' 'as hard as one can.' Used as both adverb and na-adjective. Historically 一所懸命 ('defending one's one fief'), referring to a medieval samurai's single plot of land worth defending to the death.

38 sentences