功虧一簣 [ㄍㄨㄥ ㄎㄨㄟ ㄧ ㄎㄨㄟˋ; gong1 kui1 yi1 kui4] lit. to ruin the enterprise for the sake of one basketful to fail through lack of a final effort to spoil the ship for a ha'penny worth of tar (idiom) ◄ ►