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供不應求

简供不应求 · 繁供不應求

Mandarin · pinyin gōng bù yìng qiú

supply does not meet demand

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Characters in this entry

供: gōng · supply, provide for; offer in worship
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
應: yīng · should, ought to, must
求: qiú · seek; demand, request; beseech
应: yīng · should, ought to, must

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–4–2 · gong1 bu4 ying4 qiu2

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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.

供不應求 · find source passages ↗ · 供不应求 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gung1 bat1 jing3 kau4

Cantonese word readings for 供不應求. 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) be in short supply

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

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