争先恐后

zhēng xiān kǒng hòu

to scramble to be first

Character by character

争zhēng
strive

先xiān
to be first

恐kǒng
fear

后hòu
falling behind

门一开，大家就争先恐后地挤了进去。

The moment the doors opened, everyone scrambled to push in.

Tone: neutral.

Learn this in Lesson 29 · HSK 5–6: 996、内卷与躺平 (Overwork, involution and lying flat)

A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. This lesson is free.