死而不僵

sǐérbùjiāng
  1. dead but showing no signs of rigor mortis
  2. to die hard (idiom)
  3. to die yet not be vanquished (idiom)

CEDICT

Entry Composition

1 死 sǐ
  1. to die
  2. impassable
  3. uncrossable
  4. inflexible
  5. rigid
  6. extremely
  7. damned
2 而 ér
  1. and
  2. as well as
  3. and so
  4. but (not)
  5. yet (not)
  6. (indicates causal relation)
  7. (indicates change of state)
  8. (indicates contrast)
3 不 bù
  1. no; not so
  2. (bound form) not; un-
=4 僵 jiāng
  1. rigid
  2. deadlock
  3. stiff (corpse)
=4 僵 jiāng variant of 僵 jiāng

Containing this entry

百足之蟲死而不僵 bǎizúzhīchóngsǐérbùjiāng
  1. a centipede dies but never falls down
  2. old institutions die hard