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屢戰屢敗

简屡战屡败 · 繁屢戰屢敗

Mandarin · pinyin lǚ zhàn lǚ bài

to suffer defeat in every battle (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

屢: Look up this written character
戰: Look up this written character
敗: Look up this written character
屡: lǚ · frequently, often, again and again
战: zhàn · war, fighting, battle
败: bài · be defeated, decline, fail

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–3–4 · lu:3 zhan4 lu:3 bai4

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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.

屢戰屢敗 · find source passages ↗ · 屡战屡败 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

leoi5 zin3 leoi5 baai6

Cantonese word readings for 屢戰屢敗. 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 lose every match or battle

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

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