DailyEnglish Marathon英语马拉松

once-in-a-lifetime

/ˌwʌns ɪn ə ˈlaɪftaɪm/· adj.

体育/消费B1

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Chinese meaning

千载难逢的

一yī生shēng仅jǐn一yī次cì,极jí其qí难nán得dé

In this story →

错cuò失shī的de这zhè次cì世shì界jiè杯bēi观guān赛sài机jī会huì

Example

The ordeal has left fans forced to either miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity or scramble to find new tickets, often costing more and for worse seats.

这番波折让球迷们要么错失千载难逢的机会,要么手忙脚乱地另寻门票,往往还得多花钱、坐更差的座位。

Source: NPR · 26 Jun 2026

Background ✎

世shì界jiè杯bēi球qiú迷mí转zhuǎn售shòu门mén票piào落luò空kōng,面miàn临lín错cuò过guò比bǐ赛sài或huò高gāo价jià补bǔ票piào买mǎi差chà位wèi置zhì的de困kùn境jìng。

Roots · etymology

复合词:once+in+a+lifetime直译组合

  • once(一次)+in(在…之中)+a(一个)+lifetime(一生)

Collocations

  • once-in-a-lifetime opportunity / once-in-a-lifetime experience

Watch

once-in-a-lifetime explainer clip

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