四面楚歌
sì​miàn​chǔ​gē

besieged on all sides

  • created sense approved 四面楚歌 · sì​miàn​chǔ​gē · besieged on all sides — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    四面楚歌

    sì​miàn​chǔ​gē

    besieged on all sides

    (idiom) surrounded by enemies and isolated without help; in a desperate situation. Literally "songs of Chu on all sides," referring to the story of General Xiang Yu hearing his enemies singing the songs of his homeland, leading him to believe his territory had been captured.

    四面 (literal) → 四面 · sì​miàn · all sides 楚歌 (literal) → 楚歌 · chǔ​gē · distress call

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense