此消彼长

Traditional: 此消彼長

cǐ xiāo bǐ zhǎng

Dictionary entry

(idiom) one declines while the other flourishes; one loses out when the other one gains (as in a trade-off or a zero-sum game)

What does 此消彼长 mean?

此消彼长 (cǐ xiāo bǐ zhǎng) has the following dictionary meaning.

1(idiom) one declines while the other flourishes; one loses out when the other one gains (as in a trade-off or a zero-sum game)

Character breakdown

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此cǐthis; these 消xiāoto diminish; to subside · to consume; to reduce 彼bǐthat · those 长chánglong · (bound form) length

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How to pronounce 此消彼长

此消彼长

cǐ xiāo bǐ zhǎng

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Base dictionary data: CC-CEDICT · CC BY-SA 4.0.