







涸辙枯鱼 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “a fish in a dry rut”. A person in an extremely difficult or desperate situation, urgently awaiting rescue or assistance. It describes someone in dire straits. Literally, “Dried-up fish in a dry rut”.

Chinese and English fill-in vocabulary worksheets
Open the tool →
Picture and word Bingo for your class
Open the tool →
Printable tracing sheets with a QR learning companion
Open the tool →
Create PNGs with pinyin, highlight character parts or remove strokes
Open the tool →涸辙枯鱼 (hé zhé kū yú) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “a fish in a dry rut”.
涸辙枯鱼 is pronounced hé zhé kū yú in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 涸辙枯鱼 means “Dried-up fish in a dry rut”. It is used to mean “a fish in a dry rut”.
比喻在困境中急待援救的人。同“涸辙之鲋”。