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乘人之危

Mandarin · pinyin chéng rén zhī wēi

to take advantage of sb's precarious position

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Characters in this entry

乘: chéng · ride, ascend; avail oneself of; numerary adjunct for vehicles
人: rén · man; people; mankind; someone else
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
危: wēi · dangerous, precarious; high; 12th lunar mansion, determinative star α Aquarii (Sadalmelik)

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Mandarin tones

2–2–1–1 · cheng2 ren2 zhi1 wei1

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sing4 jan4 zi1 ngai4

Cantonese word readings for 乘人之危. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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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 exploit someone's difficulties or precarious situation

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

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