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赔了夫人又折兵

péi le fū rén yòu zhé bīngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. having given away a bride, to lose one's army on top of it (idiom) / fig. to suffer a double loss after trying to trick the enemy
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-8890ede86832e49d. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

賠了夫人又折兵 赔了夫人又折兵 [pei2 le5 fu1 ren2 you4 zhe2 bing1] /lit. having given away a bride, to lose one's army on top of it (idiom)/fig. to suffer a double loss after trying to trick the enemy/

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: 賠了夫人又折兵

  • 赔
    péi

    to compensate for loss / to indemnify / to suffer a financial loss

  • 了
    le

    (completed action marker) / (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now) / (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)

    liǎo

    to finish / (used with 得[dé] or 不[bù] after a verb to express (im)possibility, as in 忘不了[wàng bu liǎo] "cannot forget") / (literary) (usually followed by a negative such as 無|无[wú] or 不[bù]) completely (not) / entirely (not) / (not) in the least / (bound form) clear in one's mind / to understand clearly

    liào

    See the full entry for source details.

  • 夫
    fū

    husband / man / manual worker / conscripted laborer (old)

    fú

    (classical) this, that / he, she, they / (exclamatory final particle) / (initial particle, introduces an opinion)

  • 人
  • 又
    yòu

    (once) again / also / both... and... / and yet / (used for emphasis) anyway

  • 折
    shé

    to snap / to break (a stick, a bone etc) / (bound form) to sustain a loss (in business)

    zhē

    to turn sth over / to turn upside down / to tip sth out (of a container)

    zhé

    to break / to fracture / to snap / to suffer loss / to bend / to twist / to turn / to change direction / convinced / to convert into (currency) / discount / rebate / tenth (in price) / classifier for theatrical scenes / to fold / accounts book

  • 兵
    bīng

    soldiers / a force / an army / weapons / arms / military / warlike / CL:個|个[gè]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.