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坐冷板凳

Mandarin · pinyin zuò lěng bǎn dèng

to hold an inconsequential job
to receive a cold reception
to be kept waiting for an assignment or audience
to be out in the cold
to be sidelined
to warm the bench
to cool one's heels

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Characters in this entry

坐: zuò · sit; seat; ride, travel by
冷: lěng · cold, cool; lonely
板: bǎn · plank, board; iron or tin plate
凳: dèng · bench; stool

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Mandarin tones

4–3–3–4 · zuo4 leng3 ban3 deng4

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

co5 laang5 baan2 dang3

Cantonese word readings for 坐冷板凳. 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.

verb

(figurative) to hold an unimportant post and be neglected; to be sidelined; to be given the cold shoulder

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

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