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狡兔三窟

Mandarin · pinyin jiǎo tù sān kū

lit. a crafty rabbit has three burrows
a sly individual has more than one plan to fall back on (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

狡: jiǎo · cunning, deceitful, treacherous
兔: tù · rabbit, hare
三: sān · three
窟: kū · hole, cave; cellar; underground

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–1–1 · jiao3 tu4 san1 ku1

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gaau2 tou3 saam1 fat1

Cantonese word readings for 狡兔三窟. 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) a crafty person has more than one hideout; a sly individual has more than one plan to fall back on

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

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