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Chinese/Dictionary entry

撑死胆大的，饿死胆小的

chēng sǐ dǎn dà de , è sǐ dǎn xiǎo dedictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
fullness for the bold, famine for the timid (idiom)
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-fc4c691670c07e27. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

撐死膽大的，餓死膽小的 撑死胆大的，饿死胆小的 [cheng1 si3 dan3 da4 de5 , e4 si3 dan3 xiao3 de5] /fullness for the bold, famine for the timid (idiom)/

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: 撐死膽大的，餓死膽小的

  • 撑
    chēng

    to support / to prop up / to push or move with a pole / to maintain / to open or unfurl / to fill to bursting point / brace / stay / support

  • 死
    sǐ

    to die / impassable / uncrossable / inflexible / rigid / extremely / damned

  • 胆
    dǎn

    gall bladder / courage / guts / gall / inner container (e.g. bladder of a football, inner container of a thermos)

  • 大
    dà

    big / large / great / older (than another person) / eldest (as in 大姐[dà jiě]) / greatly / freely / fully / (dialect) father / (dialect) uncle (father's brother)

    dài

    see 大夫[dài fu]

  • 的
    de

    of / ~'s (possessive particle) / (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun) / (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis) / (used after a noun, verb or adjective to form a nominal expression, as in 皮革的[pí gé de] "one made of leather" or 跑堂兒的|跑堂儿的[pǎo táng r de] "a waiter (literally, one who runs back and forth in a restaurant)" or 新的[xīn de] "new one") / also pr. [dì] or [di] in poetry and songs

    dī

    (bound form) a taxi / a cab (abbr. for 的士[dī shì])

    dí

    really and truly

    dì

    (bound form) bull's-eye / target

  • 饿
    è

    hungry / to starve (sb)

  • 死
    sǐ

    to die / impassable / uncrossable / inflexible / rigid / extremely / damned

  • 胆
    dǎn

    gall bladder / courage / guts / gall / inner container (e.g. bladder of a football, inner container of a thermos)

  • 小
    xiǎo

    small / tiny / few / young

  • 的
    de

    of / ~'s (possessive particle) / (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun) / (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis) / (used after a noun, verb or adjective to form a nominal expression, as in 皮革的[pí gé de] "one made of leather" or 跑堂兒的|跑堂儿的[pǎo táng r de] "a waiter (literally, one who runs back and forth in a restaurant)" or 新的[xīn de] "new one") / also pr. [dì] or [di] in poetry and songs

    dī

    (bound form) a taxi / a cab (abbr. for 的士[dī shì])

    dí

    really and truly

    dì

    (bound form) bull's-eye / target

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.