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北叟失马

běi sǒu shī mǎdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. the old man lost his horse, but it all turned out for the best (idiom) / fig. a blessing in disguise / it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good
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-b52d1d5de6aa5760. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

北叟失馬 北叟失马 [bei3 sou3 shi1 ma3] /lit. the old man lost his horse, but it all turned out for the best (idiom)/fig. a blessing in disguise/it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good/

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: 北叟失馬

  • 北
    běi

    north / (classical) to be defeated

  • 叟
    sǒu

    old gentleman / old man

  • 失
    shī

    to lose / to miss / to fail

  • 马
    mǎ

    horse / CL:匹[pǐ] / horse or cavalry piece in Chinese chess / knight in Western chess

    Mǎ

    surname Ma / abbr. for Malaysia 馬來西亞|马来西亚[Mǎ lái xī yà]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.