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南辕北辙

nán yuán běi zhédictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
to act in a way that defeats one's purpose (idiom)
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-0396932ff304f05a. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

南轅北轍 南辕北辙 [nan2 yuan2 bei3 zhe2] /to act in a way that defeats one's purpose (idiom)/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 南轅北轍

  • 南
    nā

    used in 南無|南无[nā mó] / Taiwan pr. [ná]

    nán

    south

    Nán

    surname Nan

  • 辕
    yuán

    shaft of a cart or carriage / (bound form) entrance gate of a military camp or yamen / (fig.) government office

  • 北
    běi

    north / (classical) to be defeated

  • 辙
    zhé

    rut / track of a wheel (Taiwan pr. [chè]) / (coll.) the direction of traffic / a rhyme (of a song, poem etc) / (dialect) (usu. after 有[yǒu] or 沒|没[méi]) way / idea

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.