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以卵擊石

简以卵击石 · 繁以卵擊石

Mandarin · pinyin yǐ luǎn jī shí

lit. to strike a stone with egg (idiom); to attempt the impossible
to invite disaster by overreaching oneself

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Characters in this entry

以: yǐ · by means of; thereby, therefore; consider as; in order to
卵: luǎn · egg; ovum; roe; spawn
擊: Look up this written character
石: shí · stone, rock, mineral; Kangxi radical 112
击: jī · strike, hit, beat; attack, fight

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–1–2 · yi3 luan3 ji1 shi2

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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.

以卵擊石 · find source passages ↗ · 以卵击石 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ji5 leon2 gik1 sek6

Cantonese word readings for 以卵擊石. 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 overestimate one's capabilities or to attack a stronger opponent as the weaker side which is sure to end in failure

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

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