應機立斷

简 应机立断 · 繁 應機立斷
Mandarin · pinyin yìng jī lì duàn

Meanings

  1. to act on an opportunity (idiom); to take prompt advantage of a situation
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Characters in this entry

應
yīng · should, ought to, must
機
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立
lì · stand; let stand; establish, set
斷
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应
yīng · should, ought to, must
机
jī · desk; machine; moment
断
duàn · sever, cut off; interrupt
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–1–4–4 · ying4 ji1 li4 duan4

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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.

應機立斷 · find source passages ↗ · 应机立断 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jing3 gei1 laap6 dyun6

Cantonese word readings for 應機立斷. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

應機立斷 · ying4 ji1 li4 duan4
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 43,446
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record應機立斷 应机立断 [ying4 ji1 li4 duan4] /to act on an opportunity (idiom); to take prompt advantage of a situation/