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毀於一旦

简毁于一旦 · 繁毀於一旦

Mandarin · pinyin huǐ yú yī dàn

(idiom) ruined in a short time (esp. of sth that took a long time or great effort to achieve)

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Characters in this entry

毀: Look up this written character
於: yú · yū · in, at, on; interjection alas!
一: yī · one; a, an; alone
旦: dàn · dawn; morning; day
毁: huǐ · destroy
于: yú · in, on, at; go to; surname

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2–1–4 · hui3 yu2 yi1 dan4

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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.

毀於一旦 · find source passages ↗ · 毁于一旦 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

wai2 jyu1 jat1 daan3

Cantonese word readings for 毀於一旦. 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 be ruined all at once

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

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