DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

打破砂鍋問到底

简打破砂锅问到底 · 繁打破砂鍋問到底

Mandarin · pinyin dǎ pò shā guō wèn dào dǐ

to go to the bottom of things (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

打: dǎ · strike, hit, beat; fight; attack
破: pò · break, ruin, destroy; rout
砂: shā · sand; pebbles, gravel; gritty
鍋: Look up this written character
問: wèn · ask (about), inquire after
到: dào · go to, arrive, been to
底: dǐ · bottom, underneath, underside
锅: guō · cooking-pot, saucepan
问: wèn · ask about, inquire after

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–1–1–4–4–3 · da3 po4 sha1 guo1 wen4 dao4 di3

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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.

打破砂鍋問到底 · find source passages ↗ · 打破砂锅问到底 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to keep asking questions to get to the bottom of something

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

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