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揮金如土

简挥金如土 · 繁揮金如土

Mandarin · pinyin huī jīn rú tǔ

lit. to squander money like dirt (idiom)
fig. to spend money like water
extravagant

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Characters in this entry

揮: Look up this written character
金: jīn · gold; metals in general; money; Kangxi radical 167
如: rú · if, supposing; as if; like, as
土: tǔ · soil, earth; items made of earth
挥: huī · direct; wipe away; squander

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–2–3 · hui1 jin1 ru2 tu3

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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.

揮金如土 · find source passages ↗ · 挥金如土 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

fai1 gam1 jyu4 tou2

Cantonese word readings for 揮金如土. 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

(simile) to spend money like water; to spend money extravagantly

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

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