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煮熟的鴨子飛了

简煮熟的鸭子飞了 · 繁煮熟的鴨子飛了

Mandarin · pinyin zhǔ shú de yā zi fēi le

the cooked duck flew away (proverb)
(fig.) to let a sure thing slip through one's fingers

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Characters in this entry

煮: zhǔ · cook
熟: shú · well-cooked; ripe; familiar with
的: de · possessive, adjectival suffix
鴨: yā · duck; Anas species (various)
子: zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch
飛: Look up this written character
了: le · to finish; particle of completed action
鸭: yā · duck; Anas species (various)
飞: fēi · fly; go quickly; dart; high

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2–5–1–5–1–5 · zhu3 shu2 de5 ya1 zi5 fei1 le5

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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.

煮熟的鴨子飛了 · find source passages ↗ · 煮熟的鸭子飞了 · find source passages ↗

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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 lose what one has already got

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

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