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落井下石

luò jǐng xià shídictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
to throw stones at sb who has fallen down a well (idiom) / to hit a person when he's down
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-f604aecdffb5b4c0. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

落井下石 落井下石 [luo4 jing3 xia4 shi2] /to throw stones at sb who has fallen down a well (idiom)/to hit a person when he's down/

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.

  • 落
    là

    to leave out / to be missing / to leave behind or forget to bring / to lag or fall behind

    lào

    colloquial reading for 落[luò] in certain compounds

    luò

    to fall or drop / (of the sun) to set / (of a tide) to go out / to lower / to decline or sink / to lag or fall behind / to fall onto / to rest with / to get or receive / to write down / whereabouts / settlement

  • 井
    jǐng

    a well / CL:口[kǒu] / neat / orderly

    Jǐng

    Jing, one of the 28 constellations of Chinese astronomy / surname Jing

  • 下
    xià

    down / downwards / below / lower / later / next (week etc) / second (of two parts) / to decline / to go down / to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc) / measure word to show the frequency of an action

  • 石
    dàn

    dry measure for grain equal to ten dou 斗[dǒu] / one hundred liters / ancient pr. [shí]

    shí

    rock / stone / stone inscription / one of the eight categories of ancient musical instruments 八音[bā yīn]

    Shí

    surname Shi / abbr. for Shijiazhuang 石家莊|石家庄[Shí jiā zhuāng], the capital of Hebei

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.