Definition
死地 literally means 'place of death' — it refers to an extremely dangerous, hopeless, or inescapable situation. The term appears in the famous military idiom 置之死地而后生 ('place troops in a deathtrap and they will fight to survive'), and in fengshui it describes a site where life energy is absent, making it unlucky or unsuitable for building. As a noun, it emphasizes a location or scenario where survival is nearly impossible.
n.
deathtraphopeless or deadly situation (often military or life-threatening contexts)(in fengshui) dead localityan unlucky or lifeless site
Examples
- ，死地，。Lìshǐ shàng, xǔduō jiànglǐng gùyì bǎ jūnduì zhì yú sǐ de, yǐ jīfā shìbīng de dòuzhì.In history, many generals intentionally placed their troops in a deathtrap to inspire the soldiers' fighting spirit.
- 死地，。Fēngshuǐshī rènwéi zhè kuài dì shì sǐ de, bù yí jiànzào fángwū.The fengshui master considers this plot of land a dead locality, unsuitable for building a house.
- 死地，。Jìnrù zhè zuò wúrén gǎn qù de sǐ de, xūyào jí dà de yǒngqì.Entering this deathtrap that no one dares to go into requires immense courage.
Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.