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層出不窮

简层出不穷 · 繁層出不窮

Mandarin · pinyin céng chū bù qióng

more and more emerge
innumerable succession
breeding like flies (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

層: Look up this written character
出: chū · go out, send out; stand; produce
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
窮: Look up this written character
层: céng · story, layer, floor, stratum
穷: qióng · poor, destitute, impoverished

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

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Mandarin tones

2–1–4–2 · ceng2 chu1 bu4 qiong2

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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.

層出不窮 · find source passages ↗ · 层出不穷 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cang4 ceot1 bat1 kung4

Cantonese word readings for 層出不窮. 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 emerge in an endless stream; to come thick and fast

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

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