半饥半饱 meaning in English

underfedhalf-starving

Semi-starvation and neglected colds had predisposed most of the pupils to receive infection .
半饥半饱，感冒又没有及时治疗，这就注定了大部分学生要受到传染。
For them, the present system means joyless drudgery, semistarvation, rags and premature death .
现在这个制度对他们意味着痛苦的劳役，半饥半饱，衣不蔽体的生活，短命和夭折。
Semi - starvation and neglected colds had predisposed most of the pupils to receive infection : forty - five out of the eighty girls lay ill at one time
学生们素来半饥半饱，得了感冒也无人过问，所以大多容易受到感染。
They found several hundred pounds in the house when he died ? enough to show that there had been no need for him to half - starve himself and go about in rags and tatters
他死后人们在他家中发现有好几百镑的钱，这足以表明他没有必要过着半饥半饱的生活，穿着破破烂烂的。