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生吞活剝

简生吞活剥 · 繁生吞活剝

Mandarin · pinyin shēng tūn huó bō

to swallow whole (idiom); fig. to apply uncritically

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Characters in this entry

生: shēng · life, living, lifetime; birth
吞: tūn · swallow; absorb, annex, engulf
活: huó · live, exist, survive; lively
剝: Look up this written character
剥: bō · peel

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–2–1 · sheng1 tun1 huo2 bo1

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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.

生吞活剝 · find source passages ↗ · 生吞活剥 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to skin and eat … alive
(figuratively) to apply uncritically; to use without real understanding

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

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