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插翅難飛

简插翅难飞 · 繁插翅難飛

Mandarin · pinyin chā chì nán fēi

lit. even given wings, you couldn't fly (idiom); fig. impossible to escape

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Characters in this entry

插: chā · insert, stick into; plant
翅: chì · wings; fin
難: Look up this written character
飛: Look up this written character
难: nán · difficult, arduous, hard; unable
飞: fēi · fly; go quickly; dart; high

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–2–1 · cha1 chi4 nan2 fei1

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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.

插翅難飛 · find source passages ↗ · 插翅难飞 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

caap3 ci3 naan4 fei1

Cantonese word readings for 插翅難飛. 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) unable to escape

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

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