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得寸進尺

简得寸进尺 · 繁得寸進尺

Mandarin · pinyin dé cùn jìn chǐ

lit. win an inch, want a foot (idiom); fig. not satisfied with small gains
give him an inch, and he'll want a mile

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Characters in this entry

得: dé · obtain, get, gain, acquire
寸: cùn · inch; small, tiny; Kangxi radical 41
進: jìn · advance, make progress, enter
尺: chǐ · Chinese measure approx. 'foot'
进: jìn · advance, make progress, enter

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–4–3 · de2 cun4 jin4 chi3

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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.

得寸進尺 · find source passages ↗ · 得寸进尺 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dak1 cyun3 zeon3 cek3

Cantonese word readings for 得寸進尺. 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 be extremely greedy; give them an inch and they'll take a mile

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

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