以少胜多
yǐ shǎo shèng duō
Pinyin

Definition

以少胜多
 - 
yǐ shǎo shèng duō
  1. using the few to defeat the many (idiom); to win from a position of weakness

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

以
yǐ
  1. 1 old variant of 以[yǐ]
以后
yǐ hòu
  1. 1 after
  2. 2 later
  3. 3 afterwards
  4. 4 following
  5. 5 later on
  6. 6 in the future
可以
kě yǐ
  1. 1 can
  2. 2 may
  3. 3 possible
  4. 4 able to
  5. 5 not bad
  6. 6 pretty good
多
duō
  1. 1 many
  2. 2 much
  3. 3 often
  4. 4 a lot of
  5. 5 numerous
  6. 6 more
  7. 7 in excess
  8. 8 how (to what extent)
  9. 9 multi-
  10. 10 Taiwan pr. [duó] when it means "how"
多少
duō shǎo
  1. 1 number
  2. 2 amount
  3. 3 somewhat
少
shǎo
  1. 1 few
  2. 2 less
  3. 3 to lack
  4. 4 to be missing
  5. 5 to stop (doing sth)
  6. 6 seldom
所以
suǒ yǐ
  1. 1 therefore
  2. 2 as a result
  3. 3 so
  4. 4 the reason why
不少
bù shǎo
  1. 1 many
  2. 2 a lot
  3. 3 not few
之所以
zhī suǒ yǐ
  1. 1 the reason why
二十多
èr shí duō
  1. 1 over 20
以上
yǐ shàng
  1. 1 that level or higher
  2. 2 that amount or more
  3. 3 the above-mentioned
  4. 4 (used to indicate that one has completed one's remarks) That is all.
以下
yǐ xià
  1. 1 that level or lower
  2. 2 that amount or less
  3. 3 the following
以来
yǐ lái
  1. 1 since (a previous event)
以免
yǐ miǎn
  1. 1 in order to avoid
  2. 2 so as not to
以前
yǐ qián
  1. 1 before
  2. 2 formerly
  3. 3 previous
  4. 4 ago
以及
yǐ jí
  1. 1 as well as
  2. 2 too
  3. 3 and
以外
yǐ wài
  1. 1 apart from
  2. 2 other than
  3. 3 except for
  4. 4 external
  5. 5 outside of
  6. 6 on the other side of
  7. 7 beyond
以往
yǐ wǎng
  1. 1 in the past
  2. 2 formerly
以为
yǐ wéi
  1. 1 to think (i.e. to take it to be true that ...) (Usually there is an implication that the notion is mistaken – except when expressing one's own current opinion.)
以至于
yǐ zhì yú
  1. 1 down to
  2. 2 up to
  3. 3 to the extent that...

Idioms (20)

一则以喜，一则以忧
yī zé yǐ xǐ , yī zé yǐ yōu
  1. 1 happy on the one hand, but worried on the other (idiom)
一言以蔽之
yī yán yǐ bì zhī
  1. 1 one word says it all (idiom, from Analects); to cut a long story short
  2. 2 in a nutshell
不以人废言
bù yǐ rén fèi yán
  1. 1 not to reject a word because of the speaker (idiom, from Analects); to judge on the merits of the case rather than preference between advisers
不以为然
bù yǐ wéi rán
  1. 1 not to accept as correct (idiom); to object
  2. 2 to disapprove
  3. 3 to take exception to
不以规矩，不能成方圆
bù yǐ guī ju , bù néng chéng fāng yuán
  1. 1 without rules, nothing can be done (idiom, from Mencius); one must follow some rules
不以词害志
bù yǐ cí hài zhì
  1. 1 don't let rhetoric spoil the message (idiom); don't get carried away with flowery speech to the detriment of what you want to say
不以辞害志
bù yǐ cí hài zhì
  1. 1 don't let rhetoric spoil the message (idiom); don't get carried away with flowery speech to the detriment of what you want to say
不遑多让
bù huáng duō ràng
  1. 1 lit. to have no time for civilities (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. not to be outdone
  3. 3 not to yield to one's opponents
予以照顾
yǔ yǐ zhào gù
  1. 1 to ask sb to carefully consider a request (idiom)
人多势众
rén duō shì zhòng
  1. 1 many men, a great force (idiom); many hands provide great strength
  2. 2 There is safety in numbers.
人烟稀少
rén yān xī shǎo
  1. 1 no sign of human habitation (idiom); desolate
他山之石可以攻玉
tā shān zhī shí kě yǐ gōng yù
  1. 1 lit. the other mountain's stone can polish jade (idiom); to improve oneself by accepting criticism from outside
  2. 2 to borrow talent from abroad to develop the nation effectively
以一驭万
yǐ yī yù wàn
  1. 1 to control a key point is to be master of the situation (idiom)
以人废言
yǐ rén fèi yán
  1. 1 to reject a word because of the speaker (idiom, from Analects); to judge on preference between advisers rather than the merits of the case
以债养债
yǐ zhài yǎng zhài
  1. 1 debt nurtures more debt (idiom)
以儆效尤
yǐ jǐng xiào yóu
  1. 1 in order to warn against following bad examples (idiom)
  2. 2 as a warning to others
以免借口
yǐ miǎn jiè kǒu
  1. 1 to remove sth that could be used as a pretext (idiom)
以其人之道，还治其人之身
yǐ qí rén zhī dào , huán zhì qí rén zhī shēn
  1. 1 to use an opponent's own methods to obtain retribution (idiom, from Song dynasty neo-Confucianist Zhu Xi 朱熹); to get revenge by playing sb back at his own game
  2. 2 to give sb a taste of his own medicine
以卵击石
yǐ luǎn jī shí
  1. 1 lit. to strike a stone with egg (idiom); to attempt the impossible
  2. 2 to invite disaster by overreaching oneself
以史为鉴
yǐ shǐ wéi jiàn
  1. 1 to learn from history (idiom)

Sample Sentences

我愿率少数人马先与敌军交锋，渐渐退入峡谷。敌军定以为我军必败。待敌军放松警惕，大将军再率精锐部队进攻，这样定可以少胜多。
wǒ yuàn shuài shǎoshù rénmǎ xiān yǔ dí jūn jiāofēng ，jiànjiàn tuì rù xiágǔ 。díjūn dìng yǐwéi wǒjūn bì bài 。dài dí jūn fàngsōng jǐngtì ，dàjiāngjūn zài shuài jīngruì bùduì jìngōng ，zhèyàng dìng kě yǐshǎoshèngduō 。
I wish to first lead a small number of troops and engage the enemy, all while slowly retreating into the gorge. The enemy will certainly and mistakenly believe that our defeat is imminent. When they have let their guard down, the General will lead a group of elite soldiers in for an assault. In this way, we can surely be victorious against many although we're only a few.
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