死馬當活馬醫
简 死马当活马医 · 繁 死馬當活馬醫Meanings
- lit. to give medicine to a dead horse (idiom)
- fig. to keep trying everything in a desperate situation
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Mandarin tones
3–3–4–2–3–1 · si3 ma3 dang4 huo2 ma3 yi1
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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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.
死馬當活馬醫 · find source passages ↗ · 死马当活马医 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
sei2 maa5 dong3 wut6 maa5 ji1
Cantonese word readings for 死馬當活馬醫. 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 keep trying everything in a desperate situation; to resort to desperate measures in desperate times
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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