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走投無路

简走投无路 · 繁走投無路

Mandarin · pinyin zǒu tóu wú lù

to be at an impasse (idiom)
in a tight spot
at the end of one's rope
desperate

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Characters in this entry

走: zǒu · walk, go on foot; run; leave; Kangxi radical 156
投: tóu · throw, cast, fling, pitch; jump
無: Look up this written character
路: lù · road, path, street; journey
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2–2–4 · zou3 tou2 wu2 lu4

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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.

走投無路 · find source passages ↗ · 走投无路 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zau2 tau4 mou4 lou6

Cantonese word readings for 走投無路. 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 very desperate; to have no way out; to be back to the wall

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

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