DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

功敗垂成

简功败垂成 · 繁功敗垂成

Mandarin · pinyin gōng bài chuí chéng

to fail within sight of success (idiom); last-minute failure
to fall at the last hurdle
snatching defeat from the jaws of victory

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

功: gōng · achievement, merit, good result
敗: Look up this written character
垂: chuí · let down; suspend, hand; down
成: chéng · completed, finished, fixed
败: bài · be defeated, decline, fail

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–4–2–2 · gong1 bai4 chui2 cheng2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character 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.

功敗垂成 · find source passages ↗ · 功败垂成 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gung1 baai6 seoi4 sing4

Cantonese word readings for 功敗垂成. 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.

phrase

(idiomatic) to fail when victory is imminent

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

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