DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

撿了芝麻丟了西瓜

简捡了芝麻丢了西瓜 · 繁撿了芝麻丟了西瓜

Mandarin · pinyin jiǎn le zhī ma diū le xī guā

to let go of the big prize while grabbing at trifles (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

撿: Look up this written character
了: le · to finish; particle of completed action
芝: zhī · sesame; a purplish or brown mushroom thought to have miraculous powers; 'a divine and felicitous plant' (Karlgren)
麻: má · hemp, jute, flax; sesame; Kangxi radical 200
丟: diū · discard, reject, lose
西: xī · west(ern); westward; occident; Kangxi radical 146
瓜: guā · melon, gourd, cucumber; Kangxi radical 97
捡: jiǎn · to pick up
丢: diū · discard

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

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Mandarin tones

3–5–1–5–1–5–1–1 · jian3 le5 zhi1 ma5 diu1 le5 xi1 gua1

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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.

撿了芝麻丟了西瓜 · find source passages ↗ · 捡了芝麻丢了西瓜 · find source passages ↗

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