知難而退

知难而退
zhīnán'értuì

to retreat or shrink back in face of difficulties

Wiktionary

Homographs

知難而退 zhīnánértuì
  1. lit. to sound out the difficulties and retreat to avoid defeat (idiom)
  2. fig. to back out of an awkward situation; to get out on finding out what it's really like

Entry Composition

=1 知 zhī
  1. to know
  2. to be aware
=1 知 zhì
  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) Original form of 智 (zhì, “knowing, wisdom, intelligence”).
  2. Original form of 智 (zhì, “knowing, wisdom, intelligence”).
=2 難 nán
  1. difficult (to...)
  2. problem
  3. difficulty
  4. difficult
  5. not good
=2 難 nàn
  1. disaster
  2. distress
  3. to scold
3 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)
4 退 tuì
  1. to retreat; to withdraw
  2. to reject; to return (sth)
  3. to decline