破 釜 沉 舟

pò fǔ chén zhōudictionary entry

lit. to break the cauldrons and sink the boats (idiom) / fig. to cut off one's means of retreat / to burn one's boats

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-9a05303fceeab4ee. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

破釜沉舟 破釜沉舟 [po4 fu3 chen2 zhou1] /lit. to break the cauldrons and sink the boats (idiom); fig. to cut off one's means of retreat/to burn one's boats/

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.

破
pò
broken / damaged / worn out / lousy / rotten / to break, split or cleave / to get rid of / to destroy / to break with / to defeat / to capture (a city etc) / to expose the truth of
釜
fǔ
kettle / cauldron
沉
chén
to submerge / to immerse / to sink / to keep down / to lower / to drop / deep / profound / heavy
舟
zhōu
boat

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.