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入不敷出

Mandarin · pinyin rù bù fū chū

income does not cover expenditure
unable to make ends meet

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Characters in this entry

入: rù · enter, come in(to), join
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
敷: fū · spread, diffuse; apply, paint
出: chū · go out, send out; stand; produce

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–1–1 · ru4 bu4 fu1 chu1

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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.

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jap6 bat1 fu1 ceot1

Cantonese word readings for 入不敷出. 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) unable to make ends meet; income cannot cover expenditure; to spend more than one earns

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

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