死地

sǐdì

noun #9,310

Meanings

1 deathtrap; fatal position
2 desperate situation with no way out

Characters

ground; place; position

Examples

他们被逼入了死地。

Tāmen bèi bī rù le sǐdì.

They were forced into a deathtrap.

置之死地而后生。

Zhì zhī sǐdì ér hòu shēng.

Put someone in a desperate situation and they will fight to survive.

敌人想把我们赶到死地。

Dírén xiǎng bǎ wǒmen gǎn dào sǐdì.

The enemy wanted to drive us into a fatal position.

Tips

history

置之死地而后生 is from Sun Tzu's Art of War — the idea that soldiers fight hardest when there's no retreat. 死地 originally referred to terrain where an army has no escape route.

Stroke Order

死 sǐ

地 dì