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四腳朝天

简四脚朝天 · 繁四腳朝天

Mandarin · pinyin sì jiǎo cháo tiān

four legs facing the sky (idiom); flat on one's back

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Characters in this entry

四: sì · four
腳: jiǎo · foot; base, leg, foundation
朝: cháo · dynasty; morning
天: tiān · sky, heaven; god, celestial
脚: jiǎo · leg, foot; base, leg, foundation

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–2–1 · si4 jiao3 chao2 tian1

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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.

四腳朝天 · find source passages ↗ · 四脚朝天 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sei3 goek3 ciu4 tin1

Cantonese word readings for 四腳朝天. 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 fall flat on one's back, with one's limbs in the air
(figurative, euphemistic) to die

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

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