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墊底

简垫底 · 繁墊底

Mandarin · pinyin diàn dǐ

to put sth on the bottom
to eat sth to tide oneself over until mealtime
to lay the foundation
to come last in the rankings

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Characters in this entry

墊: Look up this written character
底: dǐ · bottom, underneath, underside
垫: diàn · advance money, pay for another

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–3 · dian4 di3

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

墊底 · find source passages ↗ · 垫底 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zin3 dai2

Cantonese word readings for 墊底. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

verb

(literal) to put at the bottom of something
(figurative) to snack; to have something to eat while waiting for one's meal
(figurative) to lay a foundation
(figurative) to rank last; to be the bottom

noun

underlay; foundation

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

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