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半生不熟

Mandarin · pinyin bàn shēng bù shóu

underripe
half-cooked
(fig.) not mastered (of a technique)
clumsy
halting

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Characters in this entry

半: bàn · half
生: shēng · life, living, lifetime; birth
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
熟: shú · well-cooked; ripe; familiar with

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–4–2 · ban4 sheng1 bu4 shou2

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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

bun3 saang1 bat1 suk6

Cantonese word readings for 半生不熟. 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) half-cooked; underdone; underripe
(idiomatic) not mastered; not skilled (of a technique)
(idiomatic) not well-acquainted

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

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