DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

在千鈞一髮之際

简在千钧一发之际 · 繁在千鈞一髮之際

Mandarin · pinyin zài qiān jūn yī fà zhī jì

at the critical moment; in the nick of time

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Characters in this entry

在: zài · be at, in, on; consist in, rest
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
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
際: Look up this written character
钧: jūn · unit of measure equivalent to thirty catties
发: fā · issue, dispatch, send out; hair
际: jì · border, boundary, juncture

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–1–1–4–1–4 · zai4 qian1 jun1 yi1 fa4 zhi1 ji4

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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.

在千鈞一髮之際 · find source passages ↗ · 在千钧一发之际 · find source passages ↗

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