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鎩羽而歸

简铩羽而归 · 繁鎩羽而歸

Mandarin · pinyin shā yǔ ér guī

(idiom) to return in low spirits following a defeat or failure to achieve one's ambitions

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Characters in this entry

鎩: Look up this written character
羽: yǔ · feather, plume; wings; Kangxi radical 124
而: ér · and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
歸: Look up this written character
铩: shā · moult
归: guī · return; return to, revert to

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

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Mandarin tones

1–3–2–1 · sha1 yu3 er2 gui1

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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.

鎩羽而歸 · find source passages ↗ · 铩羽而归 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

saat3 jyu5 ji4 gwai1

Cantonese word readings for 鎩羽而歸. 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 return in low spirits following a defeat or failure to achieve one's ambitions

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

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