打退堂鼓

dǎtuìtánggǔ

idiom #23,608

Meanings

1 to back out
2 to give up halfway
3 to beat a retreat
4 to get cold feet

Characters

to beat / to strike

to retreat / to withdraw

hall / court / courtroom

Examples

事情还没完成，你不能打退堂鼓。

Shìqing hái méi wánchéng, nǐ bù néng dǎ tuìtánggǔ.

The task isn't finished yet — you can't back out now.

遇到困难就打退堂鼓，永远不会成功。

Yùdào kùnnan jiù dǎ tuìtánggǔ, yǒngyuǎn bù huì chénggōng.

If you give up whenever you face difficulties, you will never succeed.

她犹豫了一下，差点打了退堂鼓。

Tā yóuyù le yīxià, chàdiǎn dǎ le tuìtánggǔ.

She hesitated for a moment and almost got cold feet.

Tips

history

In imperial Chinese courts, a drum was beaten to signal the start and end of proceedings. The 退堂鼓 (tuìtánggǔ) — literally 'retreat-court drum' — was struck to dismiss the session. The idiom captures the idea of ending things before they are properly concluded, i.e., backing out.

Stroke Order

打 dǎ

退 tuì

堂 táng

鼓 gǔ