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打退堂鼓

dǎ tuì táng gǔdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. to beat the return drum (idiom) / fig. to give up / to turn tail
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-39c0f060b4283a46. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

打退堂鼓 打退堂鼓 [da3 tui4 tang2 gu3] /lit. to beat the return drum (idiom)/fig. to give up/to turn tail/

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.

  • 打
    dá

    (loanword) dozen / Taiwan pr. [dǎ]

    dǎ

    to hit / to strike / to fight / (in many expressions) a semantically light transitive verb used with various objects to form expressions with a wide range of meanings, e.g. 打傘|打伞[dǎ sǎn] "to hold an umbrella", 打電話|打电话[dǎ diàn huà] "to make a phone call", 打針|打针[dǎ zhēn] "to get an injection" / (coll.) from / since

  • 退
    tuì

    to retreat / to withdraw / to reject / to return (sth) / to decline

  • 堂
    táng

    (main) hall / large room for a specific purpose / CL:間|间[jiān] / relationship between cousins etc on the paternal side of a family / of the same clan / classifier for classes, lectures etc / classifier for sets of furniture

  • 鼓
    gǔ

    drum / CL:通[tòng],面[miàn] / to drum / to strike / to rouse / to bulge / to swell

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.