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狗急跳牆

简狗急跳墙 · 繁狗急跳牆

Mandarin · pinyin gǒu jí tiào qiáng

a cornered dog will jump over the wall (idiom)
to be driven to desperate action

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Characters in this entry

狗: gǒu · dog, Canis familiaris
急: jí · quick, quickly; urgent, pressing
跳: tiào · jump, leap, vault, bounce; dance
牆: Look up this written character
墙: qiáng · wall

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2–4–2 · gou3 ji2 tiao4 qiang2

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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.

狗急跳牆 · find source passages ↗ · 狗急跳墙 · find source passages ↗

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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) one will take bold risks and desperate actions when forced into desperation

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

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