九死一生 (jiǔ sǐ yī shēng) — to have a narrow escape from death; a close call; to survive against all odds
Definition
A four-character idiom for a near-death escape — literally 'nine deaths, one life.' Used for dramatic narrow escapes from extreme danger (accidents, battles, disasters).
idiom
to have a narrow escape from deatha close callto survive against all odds
Examples
- 九死一生,。Nà cì chē huò zhēn shì jiǔ sǐ yī shēng, xiàn zài xiǎng qǐ lái hái hòu pà.That car accident was a real close call; I still get scared thinking about it.
- 九死一生。Tā cóng zhàn chǎng shàng jiǔ sǐ yī shēng dì huó le xià lái.He survived the battlefield against all odds.
- 九死一生,。Zhè ge tàn xiǎn duì jīng lì le jiǔ sǐ yī shēng, zhōng yú zǒu chū le shā mò.The expedition team went through a narrow escape and finally got out of the desert.
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