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三腳貓

简三脚猫 · 繁三腳貓

Mandarin · pinyin sān jiǎo māo

sb with only rudimentary skills (in a particular area)

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Characters in this entry

三: sān · three
腳: jiǎo · foot; base, leg, foundation
貓: māo · cat
脚: jiǎo · leg, foot; base, leg, foundation
猫: māo · cat

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

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Mandarin tones

1–3–1 · san1 jiao3 mao1

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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.

三腳貓 · find source passages ↗ · 三脚猫 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

saam1 goek3 maau1

Cantonese word readings for 三腳貓. 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.

noun

(figurative, informal) jack of all trades, master of none; one who only has superficial knowledge of a skill

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

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