累死累活

lěisǐlěihuó

work oneself to death; tire oneself out through overwork

Wiktionary

Homographs

累死累活 lèisǐlèihuó
  1. to tire oneself out through overwork
  2. to work oneself to death

Entry Composition

1 累死 lèisǐ
  1. (figurative) to tire very much; to exhaust
  2. (literal) to tire to death
  3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see 累, 死 (sǐ).
  4. to tire to death
  5. to tire very much; to exhaust
=2 累 lěi
  1. to accumulate
  2. to involve or implicate (Taiwan pr. lèi)
  3. continuous
  4. repeated
=2 累 lèi
  1. tired
  2. weary
  3. to strain
  4. to wear out
  5. to work hard
=2 累 léi
  1. rope
  2. to bind together
  3. to twist around
=2 累 léi used in 累贅／累赘 (léizhui, “cumbersome”)
=2 累 lǜ only used in 謼遫累／呼遫累
=2 累 liè only used in 肥累
3 活 huó
  1. to live
  2. alive
  3. living
  4. work
  5. workmanship