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塚中枯骨

简冢中枯骨 · 繁塚中枯骨

Mandarin · pinyin zhǒng zhōng kū gǔ

dried bones in burial mound (idiom); dead and buried

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Characters in this entry

塚: Look up this written character
中: zhōng · central; center, middle; in the midst of; hit (target); attain
枯: kū · dried out, withered, decayed
骨: gǔ · bone; skeleton; frame, framework; Kangxi radical 188
冢: zhǒng · burial mound, mausoleum; grand

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

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Mandarin tones

3–1–1–3 · zhong3 zhong1 ku1 gu3

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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.

塚中枯骨 · find source passages ↗ · 冢中枯骨 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cung2 zung1 fu1 gwat1

Cantonese word readings for 塚中枯骨. 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) a deadbeat; a useless person; a person without any power or influence

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

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