出师未捷身先死

出師未捷身先死
chūshīwèijiéshēnxiānsǐ
"he failed to complete his quest before death" (line from the poem "The Premier of Shu" 蜀相 Shǔxiàng by Du Fu 杜甫 Dù Fǔ)

CEDICT

Entry Composition

1 出师 chūshī
  1. to finish apprenticeship
  2. to graduate
  3. to send out troops (under a commander)
2 未 wèi
  1. not yet
  2. did not
  3. have not
  4. not
  5. 8th earthly branch: 1-3 p.m., 6th solar month (7th July-6th August), year of the Sheep
  6. ancient Chinese compass point: 210°
=3 捷 jié
  1. variant of 捷 jié
  2. quick
  3. nimble
=3 捷 jié
  1. victory
  2. triumph
  3. quick
  4. nimble
  5. prompt
4 身 shēn
  1. body
  2. life
  3. oneself
  4. personally
  5. one's morality and conduct
  6. the main part of a structure or body
  7. pregnant
  8. classifier for sets of clothes: suit, twinset
  9. Kangxi radical 158
5 先 xiān
  1. beforehand; first; earlier
  2. at first; originally
  3. for the time being; for now
  4. (prefix) my late (in referring to deceased relatives older than oneself)
6 死 sǐ
  1. to die
  2. impassable
  3. uncrossable
  4. inflexible
  5. rigid
  6. extremely
  7. damned