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功虧一簣

简功亏一篑 · 繁功虧一簣

Mandarin · pinyin gōng kuī yī kuì

lit. to ruin the enterprise for the sake of one basketful
to fail through lack of a final effort
to spoil the ship for a ha'penny worth of tar (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

功: gōng · achievement, merit, good result
虧: Look up this written character
一: yī · one; a, an; alone
簣: Look up this written character
亏: kuī · lose, fail; damage; deficient
篑: kuì · a bamboo basket for carrying earth

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–1–4 · gong1 kui1 yi1 kui4

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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.

功虧一簣 · find source passages ↗ · 功亏一篑 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gung1 kwai1 jat1 gwai6

Cantonese word readings for 功虧一簣. 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 fall short of success due to the lack of a final effort

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

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