DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

小懲大誡

简小惩大诫 · 繁小懲大誡

Mandarin · pinyin xiǎo chéng dà jiè

lit. to punish a little to prevent a lot (idiom); to criticize former mistakes firmly to prevent large scale repetition

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

小: xiǎo · small, tiny, insignificant
懲: Look up this written character
大: dà · big, great, vast, large, high
誡: Look up this written character
惩: chéng · punish, reprimand; warn
诫: jiè · warn, admonish; warning

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

3–2–4–4 · xiao3 cheng2 da4 jie4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

小懲大誡 · find source passages ↗ · 小惩大诫 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

siu2 cing4 daai6 gaai3

Cantonese word readings for 小懲大誡. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack