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悬崖勒马

xuán yá lè mǎdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. to rein in the horse at the edge of the precipice (idiom) / fig. to act in the nick of time
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-f5afaf7eef3e2f10. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

懸崖勒馬 悬崖勒马 [xuan2 ya2 le4 ma3] /lit. to rein in the horse at the edge of the precipice (idiom)/fig. to act in the nick of time/

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: 懸崖勒馬

  • 悬
    xuán

    to hang or suspend / to worry / public announcement / unresolved / baseless / without foundation

  • 崖
    yá

    precipice / cliff / Taiwan pr. [yai2]

  • 勒
    lè

    (literary) bridle / halter / headstall / to rein in / to compel / to force / (literary) to carve / to engrave / (literary) to command / to lead (an army etc) / (physics) lux (abbr. for 勒克斯[lè kè sī])

    lēi

    to strap tightly / to bind

  • 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.