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省吃儉用

简省吃俭用 · 繁省吃儉用

Mandarin · pinyin shěng chī jiǎn yòng

(idiom) to live frugally

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Characters in this entry

省: shěng · province; save, economize
吃: chī · eat; drink; suffer, endure, bear
儉: Look up this written character
用: yòng · use, employ, apply, operate; use
俭: jiǎn · temperate, frugal, economical

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

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Mandarin tones

3–1–3–4 · sheng3 chi1 jian3 yong4

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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.

省吃儉用 · find source passages ↗ · 省吃俭用 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to save money on food and daily expenses; to be thrifty

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

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