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揭不開鍋

简揭不开锅 · 繁揭不開鍋

Mandarin · pinyin jiē bù kāi guō

to be unable to afford food

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Characters in this entry

揭: jiē · raise, lift up; surname
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
開: kāi · open; initiate, begin, start
鍋: Look up this written character
开: kāi · open; initiate, begin, start
锅: guō · cooking-pot, saucepan

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–1–1 · jie1 bu4 kai1 guo1

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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.

揭不開鍋 · find source passages ↗ · 揭不开锅 · 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

(of one's household) to run out of food

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

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