身先朝露 shēnxiānzhāolù ephemeral life Origin Definitions Defs Strokes Stroke Words Sentences Sents 身 shēn adjectivenoun life one's life or lifetime先 xiān verb to lead (xiān) to walk ahead of others; to lead; to precede朝露 zhāolù morning dew morning dew; figuratively refers to the precarious brevity of human life or things that are short-lived and ephemeral