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丟盔棄甲

简丢盔弃甲 · 繁丟盔棄甲

Mandarin · pinyin diū kuī qì jiǎ

(idiom) to throw away one's helmet and armor while fleeing from defeat

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Characters in this entry

丟: diū · discard, reject, lose
盔: kuī · helmet; bowl; basin
棄: Look up this written character
甲: jiǎ · armor, shell; fingernails; 1st heavenly stem
丢: diū · discard
弃: qì · reject, abandon, discard

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–3 · diu1 kui1 qi4 jia3

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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.

丟盔棄甲 · find source passages ↗ · 丢盔弃甲 · find source passages ↗

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to abandon one's armor when fleeing from a defeat

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

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