名落孙山

míng luò sūn shān

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Definitions

1. lit. to fall behind Sun Shan 孫山|孙山[sūn shān] (who came last in the imperial examination) (idiom)
2. fig. to fail an exam
3. to fall behind (in a competition)

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Child Words of 名落孙山

• 名 名 míng: name
• 山 山 shān: mountain; hill (CL:座[zuò])
• 落 落 là: to leave out
• 落 落 lào: colloquial reading for 落[luò] in certain compounds
• 落 落 luò: to fall or drop
• 孙 孙 sūn: grandson
• 孙山 孙山 sūn shān: Sun Shan, Song Dynasty joker and talented scholar