DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

束手待斃

简束手待毙 · 繁束手待斃

Mandarin · pinyin shù shǒu dài bì

to wait helplessly for death (idiom)
to resign oneself to extinction

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

束: shù · bind, control, restrain; bale
手: shǒu · hand
待: dài · treat, entertain, receive; wait
斃: Look up this written character
毙: bì · kill; die violent death

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–3–4–4 · shu4 shou3 dai4 bi4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

束手待斃 · find source passages ↗ · 束手待毙 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cuk1 sau2 doi6 bai6

Cantonese word readings for 束手待斃. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to fold one's hands and helplessly await death; to give oneself up for dead

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack