置之死地 zhì zhī sǐ dì

to give sb no way out; with one's back to the wall

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. to give sb no way out
  2. 2. with one's back to the wall
  3. 3. to confront with mortal danger
  4. 4. looking death in the eye
  5. 5. to place sb on field of death
  6. 6. part of idiom 置之死地而后生zhì zhī sǐ dì ér hòu shēng

Characters

Character Meaning
置 zhì HSK 5
to put; to place; to buy
之 zhī HSK 4
(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的de); it
死 sǐ HSK 4
to die; extremely; inflexible
地 dì HSK 3
ground; land; adverb marker -ly