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扭转乾坤 (niǔ zhuǎn qián kūn) — to turn the tide completely; to reverse a desperate situation

Definition

A chengyu meaning to 'turn the tide completely' — flip a desperate, losing situation into a winning one through decisive action.

verb
to turn the tide completelyto reverse a desperate situation

Examples

  • 扭转乾坤，。
    Tā píng jiè zhì huì hé yǒng qì niǔ zhuǎn qián kūn, wǎn jiù le gōng sī.
    With wisdom and courage, he turned the situation around and saved the company.
  • ，扭转乾坤，。
    Zài zhè cì bǐ sài zhōng, tā men niǔ zhuǎn qián kūn, zuì zhōng yíng dé le shèng lì.
    In this competition, they reversed the situation and ultimately won victory.
  • ，。
    Tā niǔ zhuǎn le qián kūn, ràng suǒ yǒu rén guā mù xiāng kàn.
    He turned the tide completely and made everyone look at him with new respect.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

扭转turn around; reverse
扭niǔtwist转zhuǎnturn
联合Coordinate
乾坤heaven and earth
乾qiánheaven坤kūnearth
联合Coordinate

扭转 means to twist or turn, and 乾坤 stands for heaven and earth; turning heaven and earth describes reversing a situation.

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
丑
丑chǒu扭niǔ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

扭 has 手 (hand) beside 丑. The 手 part shows that the meaning involves a hand action, and 丑 gives the sound.

Open 扭 →

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 轉; 转 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
車車jūcarriage
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān轉zhuǎn
Same sound today

The traditional form 轉 combines 車, a carriage, with 專 as a sound part; the simplified 转 is a later shorthand.

Open 转 →

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
乙乙yǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
倝
倝gàn乾qián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

乾 combines 乙 with 倝, which supplies the sound.

Open 乾 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 坤 →
Appears in
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