围 魏 救 赵

wéi Wèi jiù Zhàodictionary entry

lit. to besiege 魏[Wèi] and rescue 趙|赵[Zhào] (idiom) / fig. to relieve a besieged ally by attacking the home base of the besiegers

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-2e65ac39d3ba8c72. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

圍魏救趙 围魏救赵 [wei2 Wei4 jiu4 Zhao4] /lit. to besiege 魏[Wei4] and rescue 趙|赵[Zhao4] (idiom)/fig. to relieve a besieged ally by attacking the home base of the besiegers/

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: 圍魏救趙

围
wéi
to encircle / to surround / all around / to wear by wrapping around (scarf, shawl)
魏
wèi
tower over a palace gateway (old)
Wèi
surname Wei / name of a vassal state of the Zhou dynasty from 661 BC in Shanxi, one of the Seven Hero Warring States / Wei state, founded by Cao Cao 曹操[Cáo Cāo], one of the Three Kingdoms after the Han dynasty / the Wei dynasty 221–265 / Wei Prefecture or Wei County at various times in history
救
jiù
to save / to assist / to rescue
赵
zhào
to surpass (old)
Zhào
surname Zhao / one of the seven states during the Warring States period (476–220 BC) / the Former Zhao 前趙|前赵[Qián Zhào] (304–329) and Later Zhao 後趙|后赵[Hòu Zhào] (319–350), states of the Sixteen Kingdoms

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.