懸崖勒馬

See also: 悬崖勒马

Chinese

		cliff; precipice	to rein in one's horse
trad. (懸崖勒馬)		懸崖	勒馬
simp. (悬崖勒马)		悬崖	勒马
Literally: “to rein in the horse at the edge of the precipice”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xuányálèmǎ, xuányáilèmǎ

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄩㄢˊ ㄧㄚˊ ㄌㄜˋ ㄇㄚˇ, ㄒㄩㄢˊ ㄧㄞˊ ㄌㄜˋ ㄇㄚˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jyun⁴ ngaai⁴ lak⁶ maa⁵
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): hiân-gâi-le̍k-má

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xuányálèmǎ
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄩㄢˊ ㄧㄚˊ ㄌㄜˋ ㄇㄚˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: syuányálèmǎ
    • Wade–Giles: hsüan²-ya²-lê⁴-ma³
    • Yale: sywán-yá-lè-mǎ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyuanyalehmaa
    • Palladius: сюаньялэма (sjuanʹjalɛma)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕy̯ɛn³⁵ jä³⁵ lɤ⁵¹ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xuányáilèmǎ
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄩㄢˊ ㄧㄞˊ ㄌㄜˋ ㄇㄚˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: syuányáilèmǎ
    • Wade–Giles: hsüan²-yai²-lê⁴-ma³
    • Yale: sywán-yái-lè-mǎ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyuanyailehmaa
    • Palladius: сюаньяйлэма (sjuanʹjajlɛma)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕy̯ɛn³⁵ jaɪ̯³⁵ lɤ⁵¹ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jyun⁴ ngaai⁴ lak⁶ maa⁵
    • Yale: yùhn ngàaih lahk máh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jyn⁴ ngaai⁴ lak⁹ maa⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: yun⁴ ngai⁴ leg⁶ ma⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jyːn²¹ ŋaːi̯²¹ lɐk̚² maː¹³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hiân-gâi-le̍k-má
    • Tâi-lô: hiân-gâi-li̍k-má
    • Phofsit Daibuun: hien'gailegmar
    • IPA (Xiamen): /hiɛn²⁴⁻²² ɡai²⁴⁻²² liɪk̚⁴⁻³² mã⁵³/

Idiom

懸崖勒馬

1. to desist from doing something before it is too late; to pull back before it is too late

Synonyms

• 臨崖勒馬／临崖勒马