📖 Meaning
This idion likens a cornered deer rushing headlong into peril to a person who, left with no way out, resorts to desperate and risky action. It is a vivid variant of the more common expression '铤而走险,' conveying the same idea of taking dangerous gambles when driven to the edge.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom is a variant of '铤而走险,' which traces back to the Zuo Zhuan (左传), a chronicle from the Spring and Autumn period. The original passage, from the 17th year of Duke Wen, states that when a person is pressed to the limit, they can no longer weigh their options and must take risks. The variant replaces '而' with '鹿' (deer), evoking the striking image of a hunted deer cornered and forced to flee into treacherous terrain, thereby intensifying the sense of desperation and recklessness.
💡 Example Usage
他被逼到了绝路，不得不铤鹿走险，连夜逃离了这座城市。
Driven to a dead end, he had no choice but to take a desperate risk and fled the city under cover of night.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 铤鹿走险
- Pinyin: dìng lù zǒu xiǎn
- Literal Translation: dash, deer, run, danger
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4