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千钧一发

qiān jūn yī fàdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
(lit.) a thousand pounds hangs by a thread (idiom) / (fig.) (at the) critical / perilous (moment)
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-28ed2144eac8af36. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

千鈞一髮 千钧一发 [qian1 jun1 yi1 fa4] /(lit.) a thousand pounds hangs by a thread (idiom)/(fig.) (at the) critical; perilous (moment)/

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: 千鈞一髮

  • 千
    qiān

    thousand / used in 鞦韆|秋千[qiū qiān]

  • 钧
    jūn

    30 catties / great / your (honorific)

  • 一
    yī

    one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire / whole / all / throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yāo] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit

  • 发
    fā

    to send out / to show (one's feeling) / to issue / to develop / to make a bundle of money / classifier for gunshots (rounds)

    fà

    hair / Taiwan pr. [fǎ]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.