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相持不下

Mandarin · pinyin xiāng chí bù xià

at a stalemate
deadlocked
in unrelenting mutual opposition

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Characters in this entry

相: xiāng · mutual, reciprocal, each other
持: chí · sustain, support; hold, grasp
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
下: xià · under, underneath, below; down; inferior; bring down

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–4–4 · xiang1 chi2 bu4 xia4

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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.

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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 locked in a stalemate; neither side is winning or yielding in a standoff

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

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