背城借一

Chinese

		learn by heart; the back of the body; to be burdened learn by heart; the back of the body; to be burdened; to carry on the back or shoulder	city walls; city; town	to lend; to borrow; excuse to lend; to borrow; excuse; pretext; by means of	one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)
trad. (背城借一)		背	城	借	一
simp. #(背城借一)		背	城	借	一
Literally: “to make a last-ditch stand before the city wall”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bèichéng-jièyī

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄟˋ ㄔㄥˊ ㄐㄧㄝˋ ㄧ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bui³ sing⁴ ze³ jat¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bèichéng-jièyī
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄟˋ ㄔㄥˊ ㄐㄧㄝˋ ㄧ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bèichéngjièyi
    • Wade–Giles: pei⁴-chʻêng²-chieh⁴-i¹
    • Yale: bèi-chéng-jyè-yī
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: beycherngjiehi
    • Palladius: бэйчэнцзеи (bɛjčɛnczei)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /peɪ̯⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɛ⁵¹⁻⁵³ i⁵⁵⁻⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bui³ sing⁴ ze³ jat¹
    • Yale: bui sìhng je yāt
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bui³ sing⁴ dze³ jat⁷
    • Guangdong Romanization: bui³ xing⁴ zé³ yed¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /puːi̯³³ sɪŋ²¹ t͡sɛː³³ jɐt̚⁵/

Idiom

背城借一

1. to fight to the last ditch; to put up a desperate struggle

Synonyms

• 背城一戰／背城一战 (bèichéng-yīzhàn)