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砥礪

简砥砺 · 繁砥礪

Mandarin · pinyin dǐ lì

whetstone
(lit. and fig.) to hone; to sharpen
to encourage

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Characters in this entry

砥: dǐ · a whetstone; to polish
礪: Look up this written character
砺: lì · whetstone; sharpen

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4 · di3 li4

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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.

砥礪 · find source passages ↗ · 砥砺 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dai2 lai6

Cantonese word readings for 砥礪. 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

to sharpen up; to undergo hard training; to strengthen
to encourage; to motivate

noun

grindstone; whetstone

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

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