倒懸

倒悬
dàoxuán
  1. lit. to hang upside down
  2. fig. in dire straits

CEDICT

  1. (literary, figurative) to be in dire straits; to be in a precarious position
  2. to be in dire straits; to be in a precarious position
  3. to hang upside down

Wiktionary

縛住人的雙足並將之倒掛，使臉部朝下。比喻處境極為艱苦。

重編國語辭典

Entry Composition

1 倒 dào
  1. to invert; to place upside down or frontside back
  2. to pour out
  3. to tip out; to dump
  4. inverted; upside down; reversed
  5. to go backward
  6. contrary to what one might expect; but; yet
2 懸 xuán
  1. to hang or suspend
  2. to worry
  3. public announcement
  4. unresolved
  5. baseless
  6. without foundation

Containing this entry

倒懸之危 dàoxuánzhīwēi
  1. lit. the crisis of being hanged upside down (idiom); fig. extremely critical situation
  2. dire straits
倒懸之急 dàoxuánzhījí
  1. lit. the crisis of being hanged upside down (idiom); fig. extremely critical situation
  2. dire straits
倒懸之苦 dàoxuánzhīkǔ
  1. lit. the pain of being hanged upside down (idiom); fig. extremely critical situation
  2. dire straits
解民倒懸 jiěmíndàoxuán lit. to rescue the people from hanging upside down (idiom, from Mencius); to save the people from dire straits

Related entries

倒掛 dàoguà
  1. lit. to hang upside down
  2. fig. topsy-turvy and inequitable, e.g. manufacturing and trading costs exceed the sale price (of some goods)
  3. to borrow more than one can ever repay