失 之 东 隅，收 之 桑 榆

shī zhī dōng yú , shōu zhī sāng yúdictionary entry

to lose at sunrise but gain at sunset (idiom) / to compensate later for one's earlier loss / what you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts

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-abc580ee926d5aa5. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

失之東隅，收之桑榆 失之东隅，收之桑榆 [shi1 zhi1 dong1 yu2 , shou1 zhi1 sang1 yu2] /to lose at sunrise but gain at sunset (idiom)/to compensate later for one's earlier loss/what you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts/

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

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Other forms in these source records: 失之東隅，收之桑榆

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.