在千钧一发之际zài qiān jūn yī fà zhī jìzaiqianjunyifazhijiat the critical moment; in the nick of timeCharacters in this word一one之marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase千thousand发to issue, to dispatch, to send out在at, in, on钧unit of weight equal to thirty catties际border, boundary, junctureStudy it in Yanamino