DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
死馬當活馬醫
简 死马当活马医 · 繁 死馬當活馬醫Mandarin · pinyin sǐ mǎ dàng huó mǎ yī
Meanings
- lit. to give medicine to a dead horse (idiom)
- fig. to keep trying everything in a desperate situation
Characters in this entry
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.
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Mandarin tones
3–3–4–2–3–1 · si3 ma3 dang4 huo2 ma3 yi1
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
sei2 maa5 dong3 wut6 maa5 ji1
Cantonese word readings for 死馬當活馬醫. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
sei2 maa5 dong3 wut6 maa5 ji1
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.
phrase
- (idiomatic) to keep trying everything in a desperate situation; to resort to desperate measures in desperate times
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack