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節衣縮食

简节衣缩食 · 繁節衣縮食

Mandarin · pinyin jié yī suō shí

to save on food and clothing (idiom); to live frugally

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Characters in this entry

節: Look up this written character
衣: yī · clothes, clothing; cover, skin; Kangxi radical 145
縮: Look up this written character
食: shí · eat; meal; food; Kangxi radical 184
节: jié · knot, node, joint; section
缩: suō · contract, draw in, reduce

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

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Mandarin tones

2–1–1–2 · jie2 yi1 suo1 shi2

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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.

節衣縮食 · find source passages ↗ · 节衣缩食 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zit3 ji1 suk1 sik6

Cantonese word readings for 節衣縮食. 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.

verb

to save money by reducing daily expenses

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

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