爭分奪秒

争分夺秒
zhēngfēnduómiǎo
  1. lit. fight minutes, snatch seconds (idiom); a race against time
  2. making every second count

CEDICT

Entry Composition

1 爭 zhēng
  1. to strive for
  2. to vie for
  3. to argue or debate
  4. deficient or lacking (dialect)
  5. how or what (literary)
2 分 fēn
  1. to divide; to separate
  2. to distribute; to allocate
  3. to distinguish (good and bad)
  4. (bound form) branch of (an organization); sub- (as in 分局 fēnjú)
  5. fraction
  6. one tenth (of certain units)
  7. unit of length equivalent to 0.33 cm
  8. minute (unit of time)
  9. minute (angular measurement unit)
  10. a point (in sports or games)
  11. 0.01 yuan (unit of money)
3 奪 duó
  1. to seize
  2. to take away forcibly
  3. to wrest control of
  4. to compete or strive for
  5. to force one's way through
  6. to leave out
  7. to lose
4 秒 miǎo
  1. second (unit of time)
  2. arc second (angular measurement unit)
  3. (coll.) instantly