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拿得起放得下

Mandarin · pinyin ná de qǐ fàng de xià

lit. can pick it up or put it down (idiom)
fig. to take what comes
to meet gains or losses with equanimity

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Characters in this entry

拿: ná · take, hold, grasp; bring; with
得: dé · obtain, get, gain, acquire
起: qǐ · rise, stand up; go up; begin
放: fàng · put, release, free, liberate
下: xià · under, underneath, below; down; inferior; bring down

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

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Mandarin tones

2–5–3–4–5–4 · na2 de5 qi3 fang4 de5 xia4

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

naa4 dak1 hei2 fong3 dak1 haa6

Cantonese word readings for 拿得起放得下. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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