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削足適履

简削足适履 · 繁削足適履

Mandarin · pinyin xuē zú shì lǚ

to cut the feet to fit the shoes (idiom); to force sth to fit (as to a Procrustean bed)
impractical or inelegant solution

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Characters in this entry

削: xuē · scrape off, pare, trim
足: zú · foot; attain, satisfy, enough; Kangxi radical 156
適: Look up this written character
履: lǚ · footwear, shoes; walk on, tread; hexagram ䷉
适: shì · kuò · go, reach; appropriate, suitable

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–4–3 · xue1 zu2 shi4 lu:3

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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.

削足適履 · find source passages ↗ · 削足适履 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

soek3 zuk1 sik1 lei5

Cantonese word readings for 削足適履. 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

(figurative) to force an impractical solution to a problem; to blindly apply

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

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