吃 一 堑，长 一 智

chī yī qiàn , zhǎng yī zhìdictionary entry

Fall into the moat and you'll be wiser next time (idiom) / One only learns from one's mistakes.

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-37a040e397851e31. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

吃一塹，長一智 吃一堑，长一智 [chi1 yi1 qian4 , zhang3 yi1 zhi4] /Fall into the moat and you'll be wiser next time (idiom); One only learns from one's mistakes./

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: 吃一塹，長一智

吃
chī
to eat / to consume / to eat at (a cafeteria etc) / to eradicate / to destroy / to absorb / to suffer (shock, injury, defeat etc)
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
堑
qiàn
(bound form) moat / chasm
长
cháng
long / (bound form) length / (bound form) strong point / forte / (bound form) to be good at / (literary) surplus / spare (Taiwan pr. [zhàng])
zhǎng
chief / head / elder / to grow / to develop / to increase / to enhance
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
智
zhì
(literary) wise / wisdom

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.