卖儿鬻女

賣兒鬻女
mài'éryùnǚ

to be forced to sell one's children because one is destitute

Wiktionary

Entry Composition

=1 卖 mài
  1. to sell
  2. to betray
  3. to spare no effort
  4. to show off or flaunt
=1 卖 yù
  1. (historical dictionaries only) to hawk; to peddle in the street
  2. Original form of 鬻 (yù, “to sell”).
  3. alternative form of 儥 /𰂏 (yù, “to sell”)
  4. to hawk; to peddle in the street
=2 儿 ér
  1. child
  2. son
=2 儿 r
  1. non-syllabic diminutive suffix
  2. retroflex final
=3 鬻 yù to sell, esp. in strained circumstances
=3 鬻 zhōu
  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 粥 (“congee”)
  2. alternative form of 粥 (“congee”)
=3 鬻 jū
  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) young and small; immature
  2. young and small; immature
=4 女 nǚ
  1. female
  2. woman
  3. daughter
=4 女 rǔ old variant of 汝 rǔ
=4 女 nǜ
  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to give one's daughter in marriage; to give as wife
  2. to give one's daughter in marriage; to give as wife