qiàn
堑
moat; setback; lesson
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
2 senses · 4 examplesnoun
ditch; moat; trench
formalOriginally refers to a deep, wide ditch dug to block enemy access, now also used metaphorically.
Shì士
bīng兵
men们
zài在
zhèn阵
dì地
qián前
wā挖
le了
yī一
tiáo条
qiàn堑
háo壕
。
The soldiers dug a trench in front of their position.
Cháng长
jiāng江
tiān天
qiàn堑
shì是
tiān天
rán然
de的
jūn军
shì事
píng屏
zhàng障
。
The Yangtze River is a natural military moat.
noun
setback; lesson learned from failure
literaryUsed in the fixed idiom 吃一堑，长一智.
Zhè这
cì次
shī失
bài败
ràng让
tā他
chī吃
le了
yī一
qiàn堑
，
yǐ以
hòu后
zuò做
shì事
jǐn谨
shèn慎
duō多
le了
。
This failure taught him a hard lesson, and he became much more careful afterwards.
Wǒ我
men们
yào要
cóng从
zhè这
cì次
cuò错
wù误
zhōng中
xī吸
qǔ取
jiào教
xùn训
，
bù不
zài再
fàn犯
tóng同
yàng样
de的
qiàn堑
。
We should learn from this mistake and avoid making the same error again.