避 其 锐 气，击 其 惰 归

bì qí ruì qì , jī qí duò guīdictionary entry

avoid the enemy when he is fresh and strike him when he is tired and withdraws (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-0ef1812c1d2fa8c6. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

避其銳氣，擊其惰歸 避其锐气，击其惰归 [bi4 qi2 rui4 qi4 , ji1 qi2 duo4 gui1] /avoid the enemy when he is fresh and strike him when he is tired and withdraws (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: 避其銳氣，擊其惰歸

避
bì
to avoid / to shun / to flee / to escape / to keep away from / to leave / to hide from
其
qí
his / her / its / their / that / such / it (refers to sth preceding it)
锐
ruì
acute
气
qì
gas / air / smell / weather / to make angry / to annoy / to get angry / vital energy / qi
击
jī
to hit / to strike / to break / Taiwan pr. [jí]
其
qí
his / her / its / their / that / such / it (refers to sth preceding it)
惰
duò
lazy
归
guī
to return / to go back to / to give back to / (of a responsibility) to be taken care of by / to belong to / to gather together / (used between two identical verbs) despite / to marry (of a woman) (old) / division on the abacus with a one-digit divisor
Guī
surname Gui

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.