争 分 夺 秒

zhēngfēn-duómiǎo

Meaning

lit. fight minutes, snatch seconds (idiom); a race against time
making every second count

Example

我们的员工正在争分夺秒地修理冰暴带来的损坏。

Our employees are working around the clock to fix the damage caused by the ice storm.

Example sentence from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0).

Characters

zhēngHSK 36 strokesto strive for fēnHSK 14 strokesto divide; to separate duóHSK 66 strokesto seize miǎoHSK 59 strokessecond (unit of time)

More HSK 7-9 words

参照cānzhàoto consult a referenceHSK 7-9 滑冰huábīngto skateHSK 7-9 祖传zǔchuánpassed on from ancestorsHSK 7-9 相约xiāngyuēto agree (on a meeting place, date etc)HSK 7-9 鲜活xiānhuóvivid; livelyHSK 7-9 欢呼huānhūto cheer forHSK 7-9 在职zàizhíto be employedHSK 7-9 元首yuánshǒuhead of stateHSK 7-9 动不动dòngbudòng(typically followed by 就[jiu4]) apt to (lose one's temper, catch a cold etc)HSK 7-9 养活yǎnghuoto provide forHSK 7-9