📖 Meaning
To delay and be detained or held up somewhere. It describes lingering or remaining stuck rather than moving forward. The phrase is equivalent to the variant 迁延稽留.
📜 Origin Story
No specific literary origin is recorded for this idiom. It is a compound of two classical Chinese terms: 迁延, meaning to delay or procrastinate, and 羁留, meaning to detain or hold someone back. The combination emphasizes both the act of stalling and the state of being unable to proceed. It is commonly listed as a synonym of the more frequently encountered 迁延稽留.
💡 Example Usage
他因事务繁杂而迁延羁留，未能及时返回。
He was delayed and held up by numerous affairs and could not return in time.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 迁延羁留
- Pinyin: qiān yán jī liú
- Literal Translation: delay, procrastinate, detain, stay
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4