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添磚加瓦

简添砖加瓦 · 繁添磚加瓦

Mandarin · pinyin tiān zhuān jiā wǎ

lit. contribute bricks and tiles for a building (idiom)
fig. to do one's bit to help

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Characters in this entry

添: tiān · append, add to; increase
磚: Look up this written character
加: jiā · add to, increase, augment
瓦: wǎ · tile; earthenware pottery; girl
砖: zhuān · tile, brick

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–1–3 · tian1 zhuan1 jia1 wa3

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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.

添磚加瓦 · find source passages ↗ · 添砖加瓦 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

tim1 zyun1 gaa1 ngaa5

Cantonese word readings for 添磚加瓦. 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) to contribute meagerly to a cause; to do one's bit

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

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