CYChengyu Dictionary

Chengyu meaning

唇亡齿寒 (chún wáng chǐ hán)

closely linked interests; one side's loss harms the other

Plain Answer

Source: Classical alliance and dependency image. Treated here as story image; read it first as a sentence-level judgment.

Core meaning: 唇亡齿寒 means closely linked interests; one side's loss harms the other: Used when two parties depend on each other so closely that damage to one leaves the other exposed.

Practice this meaningRead the story
Label
negative / written and spoken Chinese
Best objects
supply chain, regional relationship, usage boundary
Do not use when
Do not use 唇亡齿寒 for a scene that only shares one surface word with the meaning. If the problem is closer to 城门失火 or the contrast points toward 夜郎自大, choose that nearby entry instead of stretching this one.

Use: Use 唇亡齿寒 when the supply chain sentence shows the object, cause, and tone clearly. Avoid: Avoid 唇亡齿寒 when the sentence only sounds related, lacks evidence, or needs a plainer word.

supply chain供应商出问题，工厂也会停工，双方其实唇亡齿寒。Gōngyìngshāng chū wèntí, gōngchǎng yě huì tínggōng, shuāngfāng qíshí chúnwángchǐhán.If the supplier has problems, the factory also stops; the two sides are closely interdependent.

Next: Read the examples, then compare 城门失火 before practicing 唇亡齿寒 in the focused quiz.

Often studied with: 城门失火, 海纳百川, 近水楼台

Read This First

唇亡齿寒 is introduced here through a story-image idiom where the image guides modern use; the source label is Classical alliance and dependency image, and the page separates that background from modern sentence choice.

唇亡齿寒 means closely linked interests; one side's loss harms the other. The important first reading is Used when two parties depend on each other so closely that damage to one leaves the other exposed. This is a negative phrase in normal use, so the sentence must show the judgment clearly.

Use 唇亡齿寒 when the object, cause, and tone match examples such as supply chain, regional relationship, usage boundary; then compare 城门失火 and 海纳百川 before writing your own sentence.

Avoid 唇亡齿寒 when the sentence only shares a broad topic, when the tone would be unfair to the person being described, or when a plainer word would be clearer than a chengyu.

Start with this cue: supply chain plus a visible reason.

Meaning and Translation Notes

Used when two parties depend on each other so closely that damage to one leaves the other exposed.

Literal meaning

when the lips are gone, the teeth feel cold

  • 唇 / lips
  • 亡 / gone or lost
  • 齿 / teeth
  • 寒 / cold

English equivalents

  • closely interdependent plain

    Best for formal explanation.

  • if one falls, the other suffers near

    Natural when the risk is shared.

  • one side's loss leaves the other exposed plain

    Keeps the body image practical.

How To Use It

Use 唇亡齿寒 when the reader can see why closely linked interests; one side's loss harms the other is the exact judgment, not just the topic. A strong sentence names the actor, the thing being judged, and the evidence that makes this idiom more precise than an ordinary adjective.

  • Use it when one party's damage directly weakens or exposes another party.
  • It fits alliances, supply chains, neighbors, teams, ecosystems, and shared institutions.
  • The relationship should involve real dependence, not just sympathy.

Common Mistakes

Do not use 唇亡齿寒 for a scene that only shares one surface word with the meaning. If the problem is closer to 城门失火 or the contrast points toward 夜郎自大, choose that nearby entry instead of stretching this one.

  • Do not use it for any friendship or cooperation; the shared risk must be structural.
  • Do not confuse it with 城门失火, which stresses collateral harm to nearby parties.

Wrong Use Clinic

The most useful check is often the phrase you should reject.

  1. The learner wants to sound more idiomatic but has only a broad topic match for 唇亡齿寒.

    The sentence drops in 唇亡齿寒 without showing the cause, object, or tone that would make the idiom necessary.

    Fix: Rewrite the sentence so the evidence for closely linked interests; one side's loss harms the other appears before or after the phrase.

    唇亡齿寒 fails in this case because a chengyu is not decoration; it must name the exact judgment the sentence is making.

    Compare cheng men shi huo

  2. The learner wants to say the opposite or a neighboring idea and chooses 唇亡齿寒 because it feels familiar.

    The sentence uses 唇亡齿寒, but the described situation points to a different cause, time point, or social attitude.

    Fix: Compare the sentence with 夜郎自大 and choose the phrase whose boundary explains the situation with less force.

    唇亡齿寒 becomes misleading when the nearby phrase would identify the real problem more cleanly.

    Compare ye lang zi da

  3. The learner has the right meaning area for 唇亡齿寒 but ignores register and emotional force.

    The sentence uses 唇亡齿寒 directly about a person, yet gives no softening context or evidence for such a warning and relational judgment.

    Fix: Add the observed behavior first, or choose 海纳百川 if the sentence needs a gentler learning path.

    唇亡齿寒 can sound heavier than a short English gloss. The reader needs enough context to see why the tone is fair.

    Compare hai na bai chuan

  4. The learner remembers the origin image of 唇亡齿寒 but applies it to the wrong object.

    The sentence names an image or story detail, but the real object being judged would be better explained by another chengyu.

    Fix: Name the object first. If the object points toward 井底之蛙, use that contrast instead.

    唇亡齿寒 should follow the judgment, not the most memorable image. Story memory is useful only when it supports the sentence-level decision.

    Compare jing di zhi wa

Chengyu Often Studied Together

Use these clusters to build sentence-level judgment instead of memorizing a single gloss.

  1. 唇亡齿寒 with nearby learner choices

    唇亡齿寒 is often studied beside 城门失火 and 海纳百川 because the words share a theme while asking the learner to judge a different cause, tone, or timing.

    老师先让学生解释唇亡齿寒，再比较城门失火和海纳百川，这样不会只凭英文近义词选答案。

    cheng men shi huohai na bai chuan

  2. 唇亡齿寒 with contrast checks

    唇亡齿寒 becomes easier to use when it is contrasted with 近水楼台 and 夜郎自大; the contrast forces the writer to decide whether the sentence is praise, warning, correction, or neutral description.

    写作练习里先用唇亡齿寒造句，再换成近水楼台，观察判断方向怎样改变。

    jin shui lou taiye lang zi dacheng men shi huo

  3. 唇亡齿寒 in example-building drills

    唇亡齿寒 should be practiced with 城门失火 and 近水楼台 because examples reveal whether the learner is choosing by meaning, tone, or only by a remembered image.

    课堂上先用唇亡齿寒写一个有证据的句子，再换成城门失火或近水楼台说明判断为什么改变。

    cheng men shi huojin shui lou taihai na bai chuan

  4. 唇亡齿寒 in story and source review

    唇亡齿寒 links best with 海纳百川 and 夜郎自大 when the learner is checking whether a source image truly supports a modern sentence.

    复习出处时，不要只背唇亡齿寒的故事，还要比较海纳百川，看哪个成语更能解释现代句子。

    hai na bai chuanye lang zi dacheng men shi huo

Learner Guide

Use these notes when deciding whether this chengyu fits a real sentence.

Use 唇亡齿寒 when two sides are closely linked and one side's loss harms the other. It can describe countries, companies, departments, supply chains, communities, or partners.

Closely interdependent is formal and accurate. If one falls, the other suffers is clearer in speech. One side's loss leaves the other exposed keeps the lips-and-teeth logic visible for learners.

Do not use it for ordinary sympathy. Feeling sad for another person is not enough. The relationship should include real dependence, shared defense, shared resources, or linked survival.

A strong sentence should name the link. Shared borders, supply dependence, common infrastructure, or mutual protection can all make the idiom concrete. Without the link, the phrase becomes generic cooperation language.

Before using 唇亡齿寒, write the plain English idea first. If the plain sentence already says everything naturally, the chengyu must add a sharper judgment, cultural image, or tone. If it does not add one of those, leave the plain wording alone.

A good 唇亡齿寒 sentence contains an object and evidence. The object is the person, plan, habit, result, or scene being judged. The evidence is the reason the phrase fits. Without both parts, the idiom may look learned but feel empty.

Compare 唇亡齿寒 with 城门失火 and 夜郎自大 before finalizing a sentence. The goal is not to memorize synonyms; the goal is to reject the wrong phrase for a clear reason. That rejection is what turns recognition into usable knowledge.

When teaching or self-reviewing 唇亡齿寒, ask the learner to mark source, meaning, use case, wrong case, and one example. If any mark is missing, return to the entry section that supplies it rather than guessing from the headword alone.

supply chain is the first test zone for 唇亡齿寒, but it is not the only possible use. Before using the phrase, name the speaker, the object being judged, and the nearest tested context: supply chain, regional relationship, usage boundary, misuse boundary, comparison check, context setup, teacher correction, translation choice. Then choose among closely interdependent, if one falls, the other suffers, one side's loss leaves the other exposed as translation candidates and reject at least one candidate out loud. A useful final check is to compare the sentence with cheng-men-shi-huo and hai-na-bai-chuan; if one of those nearby entries explains the situation with less strain, the nearby phrase is the better learner choice.

When 唇亡齿寒 is translated as closely interdependent, the English should still preserve the phrase's tone. Keep warning and relational and the strategy use area visible when the audience is still learning the idiom. If a short translation hides the warning "Do not use it for any friendship or cooperation; the shared risk must be structural.", choose a fuller English explanation instead. This matters because the strongest chengyu pages should help readers decide when not to use the most convenient English equivalent.

Example Sentences

Each example labels the situation so you can choose a natural English translation.

supply chain

供应商出问题，工厂也会停工，双方其实唇亡齿寒。

Gōngyìngshāng chū wèntí, gōngchǎng yě huì tínggōng, shuāngfāng qíshí chúnwángchǐhán.

If the supplier has problems, the factory also stops; the two sides are closely interdependent.

regional relationship

邻国关系不能只看竞争，也要看到唇亡齿寒的一面。

Línguó guānxì bùnéng zhǐ kàn jìngzhēng, yě yào kàn dào chúnwángchǐhán de yīmiàn.

Relations between neighboring countries cannot be viewed only as competition; their shared exposure matters too.

usage boundary

唇亡齿寒强调互相依存，不是普通朋友关系。

Chúnwángchǐhán qiángdiào hùxiāng yīcún, bùshì pǔtōng péngyǒu guānxi.

This phrase emphasizes interdependence, not just an ordinary friendly relationship.

misuse boundary

如果只是普通情况，不要为了显得有文化而硬说唇亡齿寒。

ru guo zhi shi pu tong qing kuang bu yao wei le xian de you wen hua er ying shuo chun wang chi han

If the situation is ordinary, do not force 唇亡齿寒 just to make the sentence sound more cultured.

comparison check

比较近义成语以后，再决定这里是不是应该写唇亡齿寒。

bi jiao jin yi cheng yu yi hou zai jue ding zhe li shi bu shi ying gai xie chun wang chi han

After comparing nearby chengyu, decide whether 唇亡齿寒 is really the phrase the sentence needs.

context setup

这段话先说明对象和原因，所以唇亡齿寒读起来不突兀。

zhe duan hua xian shuo ming dui xiang he yuan yin suo yi chun wang chi han du qi lai bu tu wu

The passage names the object and cause first, so 唇亡齿寒 does not feel abrupt.

teacher correction

老师让学生先解释为什么不用别的词，再用唇亡齿寒造句。

lao shi rang xue sheng xian jie shi wei shen me bu yong bie de ci zai yong chun wang chi han zao ju

The teacher asks students to explain why another phrase would be wrong before writing a sentence with 唇亡齿寒.

translation choice

翻译时可以先写普通英文，再判断唇亡齿寒是否让意思更准确。

fan yi shi ke yi xian xie pu tong ying wen zai pan duan chun wang chi han shi fou rang yi si geng zhun que

When translating, write plain English first, then decide whether 唇亡齿寒 makes the meaning more accurate.

Story and Cultural Context

唇亡齿寒 works because the body image is concrete. Lips protect teeth from cold; if the lips are gone, the teeth immediately suffer. In historical and modern use, the phrase often warns that two sides are not as separate as they think. A neighboring state, supplier, partner, or ecosystem member may appear external, but its loss can remove protection. English speakers should keep the dependency real, not merely emotional. The lips-and-teeth image is a precise model of exposure. Teeth are not the same as lips, but they depend on lips for protection. When the lips disappear, the teeth immediately feel the cold. Modern use applies this to alliances, suppliers, neighbors, teams, and ecosystems. English speakers should not reduce the phrase to friendship. It is about structural dependence, where another side's loss changes your own risk. For this entry, the origin note is only the beginning of the explanation. The useful question is why 唇亡齿寒 survived as a portable judgment rather than as a decorative allusion. The story image route gives the reader an image, but the modern sentence must still prove its own fit. A learner should ask three things: what concrete object is being judged, what evidence in the sentence supports that judgment, and what tone the phrase adds that a plain English adjective would not add. This is why the page tests 唇亡齿寒 through supply chain, regional relationship, usage boundary, misuse boundary, comparison check; each context changes the pressure on the phrase and shows whether the idiom is acting as praise, warning, neutral description, or criticism. The story or usage background also has a translation boundary. 唇亡齿寒 can point toward closely interdependent, if one falls, the other suffers, one side's loss leaves the other exposed, but those English choices are not interchangeable. One version may preserve the image, another may sound natural in a classroom answer, and another may be safer in a workplace or essay sentence. The entry therefore treats public references as source cards, not as a paragraph order to imitate. Headword checks, story labels, and English equivalents are separated first; only after that are they rebuilt into the learner path used here: answer, label, examples, wrong-use clinic, comparison, story, and practice. The most common failure is overextension. Because 唇亡齿寒 has a memorable surface, learners may reach for it whenever a topic feels close. The better habit is to compare it with 城门失火 and 海纳百川 and with 夜郎自大 and 井底之蛙 before writing. If the rejected phrase is hard to reject, the sentence probably has not supplied enough evidence. If the rejected phrase is easy to reject, the learner can explain the boundary and use 唇亡齿寒 with confidence. That is the practical purpose of the origin section: it turns cultural memory into a sentence-level decision instead of leaving the reader with a story and no next action.

Learning point: Some relationships are so close that another side's loss becomes your exposure.

Open the dedicated story page

Editorial Notes

These notes turn the entry into a decision path, not a loose definition.

First answer before details

唇亡齿寒 should first be read as a decision about closely linked interests; one side's loss harms the other, not as a collectible story label. The story image helps memory, but the reader's real task is to decide whether the modern sentence is making a negative judgment with enough evidence. Start with the object being described, then ask what happened, who is being judged, and whether the tone is fair. If those details are missing, the idiom will feel like learned decoration rather than useful Chinese. This first-answer rule also helps teachers and translators: they can explain the phrase quickly before deciding whether a longer story, comparison, or correction block is needed.

Example clinic

The examples for 唇亡齿寒 deliberately cover supply chain, regional relationship, usage boundary, misuse boundary, comparison check because a learner needs more than one successful sentence before the phrase becomes usable. Read the Chinese sentence, then explain in plain English why this phrase is more precise than a simple adjective or loose translation. A strong example names the context, shows the evidence, and makes the tone visible. A weak example merely places the chengyu near a related topic. This habit prevents a common error: remembering the literal image but forgetting the social judgment carried by the phrase. When the example feels forced, return to the meaning line and choose a plainer wording.

Comparison boundary

Before using 唇亡齿寒, compare it with 城门失火 and 海纳百川 and, when possible, with 夜郎自大 and 井底之蛙. The comparison is not a synonym game. Nearby chengyu often share effort, caution, wisdom, or evaluation as a topic, while differing in cause, timing, and emotional force. A good learner sentence can explain why the rejected phrase fails. If that explanation is impossible, the chosen idiom is probably too loose. This is also the cleanest internal-link reason: the next page exists because it helps the reader reject a tempting but wrong choice. The comparison should leave a reusable rule, not merely another link to click.

Wrong-use trigger

唇亡齿寒 should be rejected when the sentence lacks an object, hides the reason for the judgment, or uses the idiom only because it sounds literary. The safest correction is to rewrite the sentence in plain English first, then add the chengyu only if it sharpens the meaning. If the tone becomes unfair, choose a gentler nearby phrase. If the source image is memorable but the modern object does not match, use the story only as background and do not force the idiom into the sentence. This wrong-use trigger is what keeps the entry from becoming a long but vague dictionary page.

Source synthesis note

唇亡齿寒 uses public references as checkpoints rather than as a structure to copy. One source may help with the headword, another with a story or image, and another with English translation range. The page then rebuilds those checks into its own learner order: short answer, label, examples, misuse, collocation, guide, story, and practice. This matters because a single-source paraphrase would give readers a familiar-looking article but not a better learning tool. The editorial value here is the decision path: what to use, what not to use, what to compare, and how to test the phrase in a new sentence.

Practice This Decision

Answer a focused quiz question, then come back to the examples and misuse clinic if the near phrase feels tempting.

Start focused quizReview mistakes first