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快馬加鞭

简快马加鞭 · 繁快馬加鞭

Mandarin · pinyin kuài mǎ jiā biān

to spur the horse to full speed (idiom)
to go as fast as possible

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Characters in this entry

快: kuài · rapid, quick, speedy, fast; soon
馬: Look up this written character
加: jiā · add to, increase, augment
鞭: biān · whip; whip; string of firecrackers
马: mǎ · horse; surname; Kangxi radical 187

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–1–1 · kuai4 ma3 jia1 bian1

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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.

快馬加鞭 · find source passages ↗ · 快马加鞭 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

faai3 maa5 gaa1 bin1

Cantonese word readings for 快馬加鞭. 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

(literally) to whip the horse to an even swifter speed
(of a fast person or thing, figurative) to go even faster; to accelerate the speed

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

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