倒悬之苦

Traditional form:

倒懸之苦

Pinyin (reading):

dàoxuánzhīkǔ

Definitions:

• lit. the pain of being hanged upside down (idiom); fig. extremely critical situation
• dire straits

Characters:

• 倒 - to collapse, to fall over; to lie down
• 悬 - to hang, to hoist, to suspend; hung
• 之 - marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; to go to
• 苦 - bitter; hardship, suffering

Traditional characters:

• 倒 - to collapse, to fall over; to lie down
• 懸 - to hang, to hoist, to suspend; hung
• 之 - marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; to go to
• 苦 - bitter; hardship, suffering