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趕鴨子上架

简赶鸭子上架 · 繁趕鴨子上架

Mandarin · pinyin gǎn yā zi shàng jià

lit. to drive a duck onto a perch (idiom)
fig. to push sb to do sth way beyond their ability

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Characters in this entry

趕: Look up this written character
鴨: yā · duck; Anas species (various)
子: zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch
上: shàng · top; superior, highest; go up, send up
架: jià · rack, stand, prop; prop up
赶: gǎn · pursue, follow; expel, drive away
鸭: yā · duck; Anas species (various)

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

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Mandarin tones

3–1–5–4–4 · gan3 ya1 zi5 shang4 jia4

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gon2 aap3 zi2 soeng5 gaa2

Cantonese word readings for 趕鴨子上架. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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

gon2 aap3 zi2 soeng5 gaa2

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.

verb

(figurative, colloquial) to make someone do something entirely beyond them

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

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