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行將就木

简行将就木 · 繁行將就木

Mandarin · pinyin xíng jiāng jiù mù

to approach one's coffin (idiom); with one foot in the grave

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Characters in this entry

行: xíng · go; walk; move, travel; circulate; Kangxi radical 144
將: Look up this written character
就: jiù · just, simply; to come, go to; to approach, near
木: mù · tree; wood, lumber; wooden
将: jiāng · will, going to, future; general

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

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Mandarin tones

2–1–4–4 · xing2 jiang1 jiu4 mu4

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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.

行將就木 · find source passages ↗ · 行将就木 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hang4 zoeng1 zau6 muk6

Cantonese word readings for 行將就木. 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 close to death; to approach death

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

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