TongTong
Sign in

千钧一发 (qiān jūn-yí fà) — imminent peril; a critical moment when the outcome is hanging by a thread

Definition

A chengyu for an extremely critical moment where disaster is one slip away — stronger than just 'critical' (危急), it conveys hanging by a thread.

phrase
imminent perila critical moment when the outcome is hanging by a thread

Examples

  • 千钧一发，。
    Zài zhè ge qiān jūn-yí fà de shí kè, tā bǎo chí lěng jìng.
    At this critical moment, he remained calm.
  • 千钧一发，。
    Shì qing yǐ jīng dào le qiān jūn-yí fà de dì bù, bì xū mǎ shàng jué dìng.
    Things have reached a point of imminent peril; a decision must be made immediately.
  • 千钧一发，。
    Nà cì shì gù zhēn shì qiān jūn-yí fà, xìng hǎo tā duǒ kāi le.
    That accident was truly a matter of life or death; fortunately he dodged it.

Origin

Characters in this word

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
一一yīone, signifying a number
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén千qiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

千 pairs 人, whose sound was similar, with 一, a number stroke; the extra line was explained as extension, and a thousand is a number reached by extending counting.

Open 千 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鈞; 钧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīnmetal
Sound part声符shēngfú
匀
匀yún鈞jūn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 鈞 uses 金 to show metal and 匀 to give the sound. The simplified 钧 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical components.

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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 發; 发 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 发 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (爆发, 出发) it is 發; in others (理发, 头发) it is 髮.

The form 發, which 发 stands for in many words, was originally drawn as a bow firing an arrow.

Open 发 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Idioms & Set PhrasesSafety & Danger

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.