取長補短
简 取长补短 · 繁 取長補短Meanings
- lit. use others' strengths to make up for one's weak points (idiom from Mencius)
- to use this in place of that
- what you lose on the swings, you win on the roundabouts
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Mandarin tones
3–2–3–3 · qu3 chang2 bu3 duan3
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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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.
取長補短 · find source passages ↗ · 取长补短 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
ceoi2 coeng4 bou2 dyun2
Cantonese word readings for 取長補短. 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 learn from others' merits to offset one's weaknesses
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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