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前不著村，後不著店

简 前不着村，后不着店 · 繁 前不著村，後不著店
Mandarin · pinyin qián bù zháo cūn , hòu bù zháo diàn

Meanings

  1. lit. no village ahead and no inn behind (idiom)
  2. fig. to be stranded in the middle of nowhere
  3. to be in a predicament
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Characters in this entry

前
qián · in front, forward; preceding
不
bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
著
zhù · zhe · manifest; (Cant.) to wear
村
cūn · village, hamlet; uncouth, vulgar
後
hòu · behind, rear, after; descendents
店
diàn · shop, store; inn, hotel
着
zhe · make move, take action
后
hòu · queen, empress, sovereign; (simp. for 後) behind, rear, after
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Entries containing 前不著村，後不著店 ↗Words written with 前 ↗Words written with 不 ↗Words written with 著 ↗Words written with 村 ↗Words written with 後 ↗Words written with 店 ↗Words written with 着 ↗Words written with 后 ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

cin4 bat1 zoek6 cyun1, hau6 bat1 zoek6 dim3

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

前不著村，後不著店 · qian2 bu4 zhao2 cun1 , hou4 bu4 zhao2 dian4
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 14,404
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record前不著村，後不著店 前不着村，后不着店 [qian2 bu4 zhao2 cun1 , hou4 bu4 zhao2 dian4] /lit. no village ahead and no inn behind (idiom)/fig. to be stranded in the middle of nowhere/to be in a predicament/