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亡羊补牢

wáng yáng bǔ láodictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. to mend the pen after sheep are lost (idiom) / fig. to act belatedly / better late than never / to lock the stable door after the horse has bolted
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-9f88ab4130070572. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

亡羊補牢 亡羊补牢 [wang2 yang2 bu3 lao2] /lit. to mend the pen after sheep are lost (idiom)/fig. to act belatedly/better late than never/to lock the stable door after the horse has bolted/

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: 亡羊補牢

  • 亡
    wáng

    to die / to lose / to be gone / to flee / deceased

  • 羊
    Yáng

    surname Yang

  • 补
    bǔ

    to repair / to patch / to mend / to make up for / to fill (a vacancy) / to supplement

  • 牢
    láo

    (literary) pen / fold (for livestock) / prison / jail / firm / secure / fast

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.