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不無小補

简不无小补 · 繁不無小補

Mandarin · pinyin bù wú xiǎo bǔ

not be without some advantage
be of some help

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
無: Look up this written character
小: xiǎo · small, tiny, insignificant
補: Look up this written character
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
补: bǔ · mend, patch, fix, repair, restore

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–3–3 · bu4 wu2 xiao3 bu3

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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.

不無小補 · find source passages ↗ · 不无小补 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bat1 mou4 siu2 bou2

Cantonese word readings for 不無小補. 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.

phrase

(idiomatic) to not be without some advantage; to be of some help

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

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