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未雨綢繆

简未雨绸缪 · 繁未雨綢繆

Mandarin · pinyin wèi yǔ chóu móu

lit. before it rains, bind around with silk (idiom, from Book of Songs 詩經); fig. to plan ahead
to prepare for a rainy day

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Characters in this entry

未: wèi · not yet; eighth earthly branch
雨: yǔ · rain; rainy; Kangxi radical 173
綢: Look up this written character
繆: Look up this written character
绸: chóu · silk cloth, satin damask
缪: móu · wind around, bind; prepare

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–2–2 · wei4 yu3 chou2 mou2

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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.

未雨綢繆 · find source passages ↗ · 未雨绸缪 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

mei6 jyu5 cau4 mau4

Cantonese word readings for 未雨綢繆. 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

(figurative) to plan ahead; to prepare before it is too late; to take precautions

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

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