DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

倒懸之危

简倒悬之危 · 繁倒懸之危

Mandarin · pinyin dào xuán zhī wēi

lit. the crisis of being hanged upside down (idiom); fig. extremely critical situation
dire straits

Characters in this entry

倒: dào · fall over; lie down; take turns
懸: Look up this written character
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
危: wēi · dangerous, precarious; high; 12th lunar mansion, determinative star α Aquarii (Sadalmelik)
悬: xuán · hang, suspend, hoist; be hung

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

4–2–1–1 · dao4 xuan2 zhi1 wei1

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

4character links

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

dou3 jyun4 zi1 ngai4

Cantonese word readings for 倒懸之危. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

dou3 jyun4 zi1 ngai4

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

(idiomatic) critical juncture; the brink of destruction; a danger which puts one in dire straits