功gung1虧kwai1一jat1簣gwai6

simp功亏一篑

gung1 kwai1 jat1 gwai6gōng kuī yī kuì

English

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)
to fail by a narrow margin

粵語 — Cantonese

爭少少就成功或者完成一件事

Examples

就嚟去到終點先至仆親，真係功虧一簣。
She tripped over herself when she is close to the finish line, so close, yet so far.

Sources: cc-cedict, rime-cantonese, words.hk

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