DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

進退為難

简进退为难 · 繁進退為難

Mandarin · pinyin jìn tuì wéi 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
為: Look up this written character
難: Look up this written character
进: jìn · advance, make progress, enter
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be
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

4–4–2–2 · jin4 tui4 wei2 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.

進退為難 · find source passages ↗ · 进退为难 · find source passages ↗

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