死中求生

Mandarin · pinyin sǐ zhōng qiú shēng

Meanings

  1. to seek life in death (idiom); to fight for one's life
Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

死
sǐ · die; dead; death
中
zhōng · central; center, middle; in the midst of; hit (target); attain
求
qiú · seek; demand, request; beseech
生
shēng · life, living, lifetime; birth
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

3–1–2–1 · si3 zhong1 qiu2 sheng1

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.

死中求生 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Rime

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sei2 zung1 kau4 sang1

Cantonese word readings for 死中求生. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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