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百足之虫死而不僵

bǎi zú zhī chóng sǐ ér bù jiāngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
a centipede dies but never falls down / old institutions die hard
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-20deadde64c619de. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

百足之蟲死而不僵 百足之虫死而不僵 [bai3 zu2 zhi1 chong2 si3 er2 bu4 jiang1] /a centipede dies but never falls down/old institutions die hard/

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: 百足之蟲死而不僵

  • 百
    bǎi

    hundred / numerous / all kinds of

    Bǎi

    surname Bai

  • 足
    jù

    excessive

    zú

    (bound form) foot / leg / sufficient / ample / as much as / fully

  • 之
    zhī

    (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de]) / him / her / it

  • 虫
    chóng

    lower form of animal life, including insects, insect larvae, worms and similar creatures / CL:條|条[tiáo],隻|只[zhī] / (fig.) person with a particular undesirable characteristic

  • 死
    sǐ

    to die / impassable / uncrossable / inflexible / rigid / extremely / damned

  • 而
    ér

    and / as well as / and so / but (not) / yet (not) / (indicates causal relation) / (indicates change of state) / (indicates contrast)

  • 不
    bù

    no / not so / (bound form) not / un-

  • 僵
    jiāng

    rigid / deadlock / stiff (corpse)

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.