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一粒老鼠屎壞了一鍋粥

简一粒老鼠屎坏了一锅粥 · 繁一粒老鼠屎壞了一鍋粥

Mandarin · pinyin yī lì lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō zhōu

lit. one pellet of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of congee (idiom)
fig. one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch

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Characters in this entry

一: yī · one; a, an; alone
粒: lì · grain; small particle
老: lǎo · old, aged; experienced; Kangxi radical 125
鼠: shǔ · rat, mouse; Kangxi radical 208
屎: shǐ · excrement, shit, dung
壞: Look up this written character
了: le · to finish; particle of completed action
鍋: Look up this written character
粥: zhōu · rice gruel, congee
坏: huài · rotten, spoilt, bad, broken down
锅: guō · cooking-pot, saucepan

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–3–3–3–4–5–1–1–1 · yi1 li4 lao3 shu3 shi3 huai4 le5 yi1 guo1 zhou1

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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.

一粒老鼠屎壞了一鍋粥 · find source passages ↗ · 一粒老鼠屎坏了一锅粥 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jat1 lap1 lou5 syu2 si2 waai6 liu5 jat1 wo1 zuk1

Cantonese word readings for 一粒老鼠屎壞了一鍋粥. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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