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截長補短

简截长补短 · 繁截長補短

Mandarin · pinyin jié cháng bǔ duǎn

take from the long to supplement the short (idiom)
to offset each other's deficiencies
to complement each other

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Characters in this entry

截: jié · cut off, stop, obstruct, intersect
長: zhǎng · long; length; excel in; leader; Kangxi radical 168
補: Look up this written character
短: duǎn · short; brief; deficient, lacking
长: zhǎng · long; length; excel in; leader
补: bǔ · mend, patch, fix, repair, restore

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–3–3 · jie2 chang2 bu3 duan3

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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.

截長補短 · find source passages ↗ · 截长补短 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zit6 coeng4 bou2 dyun2

Cantonese word readings for 截長補短. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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