DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

進退不得

简进退不得 · 繁進退不得

Mandarin · pinyin jìn tuì bù dé

can't advance or retreat (idiom); no room for maneuver
stalled
in a dilemma
stuck in a difficult position

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Characters in this entry

進: jìn · advance, make progress, enter
退: tuì · step back, retreat, withdraw
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
得: dé · obtain, get, gain, acquire
进: jìn · advance, make progress, enter

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–4–2 · jin4 tui4 bu4 de2

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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.

進退不得 · find source passages ↗ · 进退不得 · find source passages ↗

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