DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

不蒸饅頭爭口氣

简不蒸馒头争口气 · 繁不蒸饅頭爭口氣

Mandarin · pinyin bù zhēng mán tou zhēng kǒu qì

not to be crushed (idiom)
to be determined to have one's revenge

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
蒸: zhēng · steam; evaporate
饅: Look up this written character
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
爭: Look up this written character
口: kǒu · mouth; open end; entrance, gate
氣: qì · air, gas, steam, vapor; spirit
馒: mán · steamed bread; steamed dumplings
头: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
争: zhēng · dispute, fight, contend, strive
气: qì · steam, vapor; Kangxi radical 84

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–2–5–1–3–4 · bu4 zheng1 man2 tou5 zheng1 kou3 qi4

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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.

不蒸饅頭爭口氣 · find source passages ↗ · 不蒸馒头争口气 · find source passages ↗

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