生命线 shēngmìngxiàn lifeline
How to remember 生命线: 生 life + 命 life + 线 line = lifeline.
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How it is used
- A lifeline - the thing something utterly depends on - 质量是企业的生命线 (zhìliàng shì qǐyè de shēngmìngxiàn) quality is a firm's lifeline.
- Almost always figurative: the critical artery for survival (a supply route, key principle, core resource).
- More dramatic and vital-sounding than 关键 (guānjiàn, key point); stresses that losing it means death.