DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

三下五除二

Mandarin · pinyin sān xià wǔ chú èr

three, set five remove two (abacus rule)
efficiently
quickly and easily

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

三: sān · three
下: xià · under, underneath, below; down; inferior; bring down
五: wǔ · five; surname
除: chú · eliminate, remove, except
二: èr · two; twice

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–4–3–2–4 · san1 xia4 wu3 chu2 er4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

5character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

三下五除二 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

saam1 haa6 ng5 ceoi4 ji6

Cantonese word readings for 三下五除二. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

adv

(figurative) (doing things) in an instant; in the blink of an eye; quickly and easily

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

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