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打退堂鼓

Mandarin · pinyin dǎ tuì táng gǔ

lit. to beat the return drum (idiom)
fig. to give up
to turn tail

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Characters in this entry

打: dǎ · strike, hit, beat; fight; attack
退: tuì · step back, retreat, withdraw
堂: táng · hall; government office
鼓: gǔ · drum; beat, top, strike; Kangxi radical 207

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–2–3 · da3 tui4 tang2 gu3

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

daa2 teoi3 tong4 gu2

Cantonese word readings for 打退堂鼓. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

daa2 teoi3 tong4 gu2

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

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

verb

(historical) to beat the drum before the magistrate withdraws from the court
(figurative) to beat a retreat; to give up halfway

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack