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心驚膽戰

简心惊胆战 · 繁心驚膽戰

Mandarin · pinyin xīn jīng dǎn zhàn

lit. heart alarmed, trembling in fear (idiom); prostrate with fear
scared witless

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Characters in this entry

心: xīn · heart; mind, intelligence; soul; 5th lunar mansion, determinative star α Scorpii (Antares)
驚: Look up this written character
膽: Look up this written character
戰: Look up this written character
惊: jīng · frighten, surprise, startle
胆: dǎn · gall bladder; bravery, courage
战: zhàn · war, fighting, battle

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–3–4 · xin1 jing1 dan3 zhan4

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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.

心驚膽戰 · find source passages ↗ · 心惊胆战 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sam1 geng1 daam2 zin3

Cantonese word readings for 心驚膽戰. 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 tremble with fear; to shake with fright

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

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