勢如破竹

简 势如破竹 · 繁 勢如破竹
Mandarin · pinyin shì rú pò zhú

Meanings

  1. like a hot knife through butter (idiom)
  2. with irresistible force
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Characters in this entry

勢
Look up this written character
如
rú · if, supposing; as if; like, as
破
pò · break, ruin, destroy; rout
竹
zhú · bamboo; flute; Kangxi radical 118
势
shì · power, force; tendency
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–2–4–2 · shi4 ru2 po4 zhu2

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sai3 jyu4 po3 zuk1

Cantonese word readings for 勢如破竹. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

sai3 jyu4 po3 zuk1

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

  1. (simile) like a knife through butter; with irresistible force

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack