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犬馬之勞

简犬马之劳 · 繁犬馬之勞

Mandarin · pinyin quǎn mǎ zhī láo

lit. the service of a dog or a horse (idiom)
fig. faithful service

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Characters in this entry

犬: quǎn · dog; radical number 94
馬: Look up this written character
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
勞: Look up this written character
马: mǎ · horse; surname; Kangxi radical 187
劳: láo · labor, toil, do manual work

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–1–2 · quan3 ma3 zhi1 lao2

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

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犬馬之勞 · find source passages ↗ · 犬马之劳 · 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) humble and faithful service to one's master (e.g. the emperor)

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

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