Dictionary › 亡羊补牢

亡羊补牢

wáng yáng bǔ láo

HSK 3.0 level 7-9 4-character word Traditional 亡羊補牢

亡羊补牢 (wáng yáng bǔ láo) means "lit. to mend the pen after sheep are lost (idiom); fig. to act belatedly; better late than never". It is an HSK 3.0 level 7-9 word, and was not on the old six-level HSK list.

What 亡羊补牢 means

1. lit. to mend the pen after sheep are lost (idiom)
2. fig. to act belatedly
3. better late than never
4. to lock the stable door after the horse has bolted

The characters in 亡羊补牢

• 亡wángto die; to lose; to be gone
• 羊yángsheep; goat
• 补bǔto repair; to patch; to mend
• 牢láo(literary) pen; fold (for livestock); prison; jail; firm; secure; fast

Example sentences

• 亡羊补牢。
  Wángyángbǔláo.
  Better late than never.

Go deeper

• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read wáng yáng bǔ láo correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.