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挑肥揀瘦

简挑肥拣瘦 · 繁挑肥揀瘦

Mandarin · pinyin tiāo féi jiǎn shòu

(idiom) to cherry-pick; to pick the best parts for oneself; to be choosy

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Characters in this entry

挑: tiāo · a load carried on the shoulders; to carry
肥: féi · fat, plump, obese; fertile
揀: Look up this written character
瘦: shòu · thin, emaciated, lean; meager
拣: jiǎn · choose; select; pick up; gather

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–3–4 · tiao1 fei2 jian3 shou4

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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.

挑肥揀瘦 · find source passages ↗ · 挑肥拣瘦 · find source passages ↗

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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 pick the best for oneself; to choose whatever is to one's advantage

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

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