懸崖勒馬 (jyun4 ngaai4 laak6 maa5 | xuan2 ya2 le4 ma3) : to act in the nick of time before it is too late;

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懸崖勒馬

jyun4 ngaai4 laak6 maa5

xuan2 ya2 le4 ma3

to wake up and escape disaster at the last moment; to pull back before it is too late

Level: 3
This term is used in both Cantonese and Mandarin/Standard written Chinese.

懸崖勒馬 / 悬崖勒马

This word has been viewed 2326 times since 30th Oct 2012, was added by bernard on 26th Nov 2008 14:55 and last edited on 26th Nov 2008 15:19

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Characters in this word:

懸 jyun4 - hang; suspend; outstanding
崖 ngaai4 - cliff; precipice
勒 lak6 laak6 - tighten; rein in; force; command; carve
馬 maa5 - horse

Showing 1 example containing 懸崖勒馬

綁匪懾於法律威嚴及時懸崖勒馬，算他們聰明。
The kidnappers, being fearful of the strict laws, were clever to pull back and stop before it became too late.

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[big][url=http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/48699/]懸崖勒馬[/url][/big]
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Decimal representation of this word: 懸崖勒馬

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