DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

空降

Mandarin · pinyin kōng jiàng

to drop from the sky
(fig.) to appear out of nowhere
(attributive) airborne

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

空: kōng · empty, hollow, bare, deserted
降: jiàng · descend, fall, drop; lower, down

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–4 · kong1 jiang4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

2character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

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

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

空降 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hung1 gong3

Cantonese word readings for 空降. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

verb

to drop from the sky; to be airborne
(figurative) to show up at a place unexpectedly
(figurative) to be parachuted into (to be placed into a position without one's previous experience there)

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

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