DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

狗嘴裏吐不出象牙

简狗嘴里吐不出象牙 · 繁狗嘴裏吐不出象牙

Mandarin · pinyin gǒu zuǐ li tǔ bù chū xiàng yá

lit. no ivory comes from the mouth of a dog (idiom)
fig. one does not expect fine words from a scoundrel

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

狗: gǒu · dog, Canis familiaris
嘴: zuǐ · mouth, lips
裏: lǐ · inside, interior, within
吐: tǔ · vomit, spew out, cough up
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
出: chū · go out, send out; stand; produce
象: xiàng · elephant; ivory; figure, image
牙: yá · tooth, molars, teeth; serrated
里: lǐ · unit of distance; village; lane; Kangxi radical 166

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

3–3–5–3–4–1–4–2 · gou3 zui3 li5 tu3 bu4 chu1 xiang4 ya2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

9character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

狗嘴裏吐不出象牙 · find source passages ↗ · 狗嘴里吐不出象牙 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gau2 zeoi2 leoi5 tou3 bat1 ceot1 zoeng6 ngaa4

Cantonese word readings for 狗嘴裏吐不出象牙. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack