身陷囹圄

shēnxiàn-língyǔ
idiom #31,503

Meanings

  1. 1 to be thrown into prison
  2. 2 to be behind bars
  3. 3 to be in jail

Examples

Yóuyú tānwū, tā zuìzhōng shēnxiàn-língyǔ.
Because of corruption, he eventually ended up behind bars.
Jǐnguǎn shēnxiàn-língyǔ, tā réngrán jiānchí zìjǐ de xìnniàn.
Even though he was imprisoned, he still held to his convictions.

Tips

history
囹圄 (língyǔ) is one of the oldest words for 'jail' in Chinese, found in 《说文》 (囹,狱也) and 《华严音义》 (囹圄,周之狱名也 - the prison-name of the Zhou dynasty). 身陷 means 'one's body falls into', so the whole phrase paints the literal image of a person sunk inside the ancient Zhou prison.
register
Formal/literary. Newsroom and court-document language. Everyday speech prefers 坐牢 (zuòláo) or 进监狱 (jìn jiānyù).

Stroke Order

shēn
xiàn
líng