九死一生

jiǔ sǐ yī shēng

a narrow escape from death

Character by character

九jiǔ
nine

死sǐ
deaths

一yī
one

生shēng
life

他经历了九死一生才回到家乡。

He survived one brush with death after another before he finally made it home.

Tone: neutral.

Echoes Qu Yuan's 虽九死其犹未悔 in 《离骚》; for genuine life-or-death escapes.

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