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.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

九死nine deaths
九jiǔnine死sǐdeath
偏正Modifier + head
一生one life
一yīone生shēnglife
偏正Modifier + head

九死 is hyperbolic, nine deaths, while 一生 is only one life; together they picture a narrow escape.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape comes from a stylized hand bent at the wrist, with the lower-right hook showing the bend. Later, it was taken to show a tightened fist bumping up to ten, giving the number nine.

Open 九 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
歹歹dǎi
Sound part声符shēngfú
尸
尸shī死sǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

死 is built from 歹 and 尸: 歹 is the part tied to the meaning, and 尸 gives the sound.

Open 死 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →

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