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千鈞一髮

简千钧一发 · 繁千鈞一髮

Mandarin · pinyin qiān jūn yī fà

(lit.) a thousand pounds hangs by a thread (idiom)
(fig.) (at the) critical; perilous (moment)

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Characters in this entry

千: qiān · thousand; many, numerous; very; (Cant.) a cheater, swindler
鈞: Look up this written character
一: yī · one; a, an; alone
髮: fà · fǎ · hair
钧: jūn · unit of measure equivalent to thirty catties
发: fā · issue, dispatch, send out; hair

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–1–4 · qian1 jun1 yi1 fa4

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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.

千鈞一髮 · find source passages ↗ · 千钧一发 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cin1 gwan1 jat1 faat3

Cantonese word readings for 千鈞一髮. 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

imminent peril; a matter of life or death; to be hanging by a hair

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

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