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好酒沉甕底

简好酒沉瓮底 · 繁好酒沉甕底

Mandarin · pinyin hǎo jiǔ chén wèng dǐ

lit. the best wine is at the bottom of the jug (idiom)
fig. the best is saved for last

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Characters in this entry

好: hǎo · good, excellent, fine; well
酒: jiǔ · wine, spirits, liquor, alcoholic beverage
沉: chén · sink, submerge; addicted to
甕: Look up this written character
底: dǐ · bottom, underneath, underside
瓮: wèng · earthen jar; jar for ashes

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–2–4–3 · hao3 jiu3 chen2 weng4 di3

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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.

好酒沉甕底 · find source passages ↗ · 好酒沉瓮底 · find source passages ↗

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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.

proverb

The best is saved for last; It ain't over until the fat lady sings.

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

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