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偷工減料

简偷工减料 · 繁偷工減料

Mandarin · pinyin tōu gōng jiǎn liào

to skimp on the job and stint on materials (idiom)
jerry-building
sloppy work

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Characters in this entry

偷: tōu · to steal, burglar, thief
工: gōng · labor, work; worker, laborer
減: Look up this written character
料: liào · consider, conjecture; materials, ingredients
减: jiǎn · decrease, subtract, diminish

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–3–4 · tou1 gong1 jian3 liao4

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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.

偷工減料 · find source passages ↗ · 偷工减料 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

tau1 gung1 gaam2 liu2

Cantonese word readings for 偷工減料. 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 do shoddy work and use inferior materials; to cut corners

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

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