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僧多粥少

Mandarin · pinyin sēng duō zhōu shǎo

lit. many monks and not much gruel (idiom)
fig. not enough to go around
demand exceeds supply

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Characters in this entry

僧: sēng · Buddhist priest, monk; san of Sanskrit sangha
多: duō · much, many; more than, over
粥: zhōu · rice gruel, congee
少: shǎo · few, less, inadequate

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Mandarin tones

1–1–1–3 · seng1 duo1 zhou1 shao3

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zang1 do1 zuk1 siu2

Cantonese word readings for 僧多粥少. 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) not enough to go around; having demands exceeding supply

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

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