besieged on all sides; isolated and in dire straits
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesidiom
to be besieged on all sides; to be surrounded by enemies; to be isolated and in a desperate situation
Derived from the historical account in Sima Qian's 'Records of the Grand Historian' (Shiji), where Xiang Yu's army was surrounded by Liu Bang's forces at Gaixia and heard Chu folk songs from all sides,误以为 the entire Chu territory had fallen to the enemy.
Yóu由
yú于
jìng竞
zhēng争
duì对
shǒu手
fēn纷
fēn纷
jiàng降
jiǎ价
cù促
xiāo销
，
zhè这
jiā家
gōng公
sī司
xiàn陷
rù入
le了
sì四
miàn面
chǔ楚
gē歌
de的
jìng境
dì地
。
With competitors slashing prices and launching promotions, this company found itself besieged on all sides.
Tā他
zài在
dān单
wèi位
bèi被
lǐng领
dǎo导
pī批
píng评
，
zài在
jiā家
lǐ里
gēn跟
qī妻
zi子
chǎo吵
jià架
，
zhēn真
shì是
sì四
miàn面
chǔ楚
gē歌
。
He was criticized by his boss at work and fought with his wife at home—truly surrounded by troubles on all sides.
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Dí敌
jūn军
suī虽
rán然
yǐ已
sì四
miàn面
chǔ楚
gē歌
，
dàn但
réng仍
zài在
zuò做
zuì最
hòu后
de的
wán顽
qiáng强
dǐ抵
kàng抗
。
Although the enemy was already besieged on all sides, they were still putting up a final stubborn resistance.