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投石問路

简投石问路 · 繁投石問路

Mandarin · pinyin tóu shí wèn lù

lit. to toss a stone to find out what's ahead (idiom)
fig. to test the waters

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Characters in this entry

投: tóu · throw, cast, fling, pitch; jump
石: shí · stone, rock, mineral; Kangxi radical 112
問: wèn · ask (about), inquire after
路: lù · road, path, street; journey
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

2–2–4–4 · tou2 shi2 wen4 lu4

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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.

投石問路 · find source passages ↗ · 投石问路 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

tau4 sek6 man6 lou6

Cantonese word readings for 投石問路. 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 test the waters

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

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