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進退兩難

简进退两难 · 繁進退兩難

Mandarin · pinyin jìn tuì liǎng nán

no room to advance or to retreat (idiom); without any way out of a dilemma
trapped
in an impossible situation

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Characters in this entry

進: jìn · advance, make progress, enter
退: tuì · step back, retreat, withdraw
兩: liǎng · two, both, pair, couple; ounce
難: Look up this written character
进: jìn · advance, make progress, enter
两: liǎng · two, both, pair, couple; ounce
难: nán · difficult, arduous, hard; unable

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–3–2 · jin4 tui4 liang3 nan2

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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.

進退兩難 · find source passages ↗ · 进退两难 · 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) between a rock and a hard place; in a bind; in a pickle

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

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