DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

弱肉強食

简弱肉强食 · 繁弱肉強食

Mandarin · pinyin ruò ròu qiáng shí

(lit.) the weak are prey to the strong (idiom)
(fig.) the law of the jungle

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

弱: ruò · weak; fragile, delicate
肉: ròu · flesh; meat; Kangxi radical 130
強: qiáng · strong, powerful, energetic
食: shí · eat; meal; food; Kangxi radical 184
强: qiáng · strong, powerful, energetic

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–4–2–2 · ruo4 rou4 qiang2 shi2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

5character 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.

弱肉強食 · find source passages ↗ · 弱肉强食 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

joek6 juk6 koeng4 sik6

Cantonese word readings for 弱肉強食. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

proverb

survival of the fittest; law of the jungle

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack