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竹籃打水

简竹篮打水 · 繁竹籃打水

Mandarin · pinyin zhú lán dǎ shuǐ

using a wicker basket to draw water (idiom); wasted effort

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Characters in this entry

竹: zhú · bamboo; flute; Kangxi radical 118
籃: Look up this written character
打: dǎ · strike, hit, beat; fight; attack
水: shuǐ · water, liquid, lotion, juice
篮: lán · basket

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–3–3 · zhu2 lan2 da3 shui3

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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.

竹籃打水 · find source passages ↗ · 竹篮打水 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 2 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zuk1 laam2 daa2 seoi2 · zuk1 laam4 daa2 seoi2

Cantonese word readings for 竹籃打水. 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) wild-goose chase; wasted effort

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

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