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半路殺出個程咬金

简半路杀出个程咬金 · 繁半路殺出個程咬金

Mandarin · pinyin bàn lù shā chū gè Chéng Yǎo jīn

lit. Cheng Yaojin ambushes the enemy (saying)
fig. sb shows up unexpectedly and disrupts the plan
sb whose presence is regarded as irksome

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Characters in this entry

半: bàn · half
路: lù · road, path, street; journey
殺: Look up this written character
出: chū · go out, send out; stand; produce
個: gè · numerary adjunct, piece; single
程: chéng · journey, trip; schedule, agenda
咬: yǎo · bite, gnaw
金: jīn · gold; metals in general; money; Kangxi radical 167
杀: shā · kill, slaughter, murder; hurt
个: gè · numerary adjunct, piece; single

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–1–1–4–2–3–1 · ban4 lu4 sha1 chu1 ge4 Cheng2 Yao3 jin1

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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.

半路殺出個程咬金 · find source passages ↗ · 半路杀出个程咬金 · 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) someone or something unexpected appears and disrupts the matter; to be thrown a spanner in the works

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

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