以少勝多

简 以少胜多 · 繁 以少勝多
Mandarin · pinyin yǐ shǎo shèng duō

Meanings

  1. using the few to defeat the many (idiom); to win from a position of weakness
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Characters in this entry

以
yǐ · by means of; thereby, therefore; consider as; in order to
少
shǎo · few, less, inadequate
勝
shèng · victory; excel, be better than
多
duō · much, many; more than, over
胜
shèng · victory; excel, be better than
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–3–4–1 · yi3 shao3 sheng4 duo1

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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.

以少勝多 · find source passages ↗ · 以少胜多 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ji5 siu2 sing3 do1

Cantonese word readings for 以少勝多. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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

以少勝多 · yi3 shao3 sheng4 duo1
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 6,477
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record以少勝多 以少胜多 [yi3 shao3 sheng4 duo1] /using the few to defeat the many (idiom); to win from a position of weakness/