忙裡偷閑

简 忙里偷闲 · 繁 忙裡偷閑
Mandarin · pinyin máng lǐ tōu xián

Meanings

  1. (idiom) to snatch a moment of leisure in the midst of a busy schedule
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Characters in this entry

忙
máng · busy, pressed for time; hustling
裡
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偷
tōu · to steal, burglar, thief
閑
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里
lǐ · unit of distance; village; lane; Kangxi radical 166
闲
xián · fence, guard; defend; idle time
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–3–1–2 · mang2 li3 tou1 xian2

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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.

忙裡偷閑 · find source passages ↗ · 忙里偷闲 · find source passages ↗

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忙裡偷閑 · mang2 li3 tou1 xian2
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 41,215
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record忙裡偷閑 忙里偷闲 [mang2 li3 tou1 xian2] /(idiom) to snatch a moment of leisure in the midst of a busy schedule/