死马当作活马医

死馬當作活馬醫
sǐmǎdàngzuòhuómǎyī
  1. (idiomatic) to make a forlorn effort to rescue a hopeless situation; to make a Hail Mary pass
  2. to make a forlorn effort to rescue a hopeless situation; to make a Hail Mary pass

Wiktionary

Entry Composition

1 死 sǐ
  1. to die
  2. impassable
  3. uncrossable
  4. inflexible
  5. rigid
  6. extremely
  7. damned
=2 马 Mǎ
  1. surname Ma
  2. abbr. for Malaysia 马来西亚 Mǎláixīyà
=2 马 mǎ
  1. horse
  2. horse or cavalry piece in Chinese chess
  3. knight in Western chess

classifier: 匹
3 当作 dàngzuò
  1. to treat as
  2. to regard as
4 活 huó
  1. to live
  2. alive
  3. living
  4. work
  5. workmanship
=5 马 Mǎ
  1. surname Ma
  2. abbr. for Malaysia 马来西亚 Mǎláixīyà
=5 马 mǎ
  1. horse
  2. horse or cavalry piece in Chinese chess
  3. knight in Western chess

classifier: 匹
=6 医 yī
  1. medical
  2. medicine
  3. doctor
  4. to cure
  5. to treat
=6 医 yì
  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) a tool for storing a bow and crossbow
  2. a tool for storing a bow and crossbow