馬失前蹄 mǎ shī qián tí

lit. the horse loses its front hooves

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. lit. the horse loses its front hooves
  2. 2. fig. sudden failure through miscalculation or inattentiveness

Characters

Character Meaning
馬 mǎ
horse; surname Ma
失 shī HSK 4
to lose; to miss; to fail
前 qián HSK 1
front; before; forward
蹄 tí
hoof; pig's trotters; variant of 蹄tí