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以逸待勞

简以逸待劳 · 繁以逸待勞

Mandarin · pinyin yǐ yì dài láo

to wait at one's ease for the exhausted enemy
to nurture one's strength and bide one's time (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

以: yǐ · by means of; thereby, therefore; consider as; in order to
逸: yì · flee, escape, break loose
待: dài · treat, entertain, receive; wait
勞: Look up this written character
劳: láo · labor, toil, do manual work

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–4–2 · yi3 yi4 dai4 lao2

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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.

以逸待勞 · find source passages ↗ · 以逸待劳 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ji5 jat6 doi6 lou4

Cantonese word readings for 以逸待勞. 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 wait at one's ease for the exhausted enemy; to nurture one's strength and bide one's time

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

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