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老牛破車

简老牛破车 · 繁老牛破車

Mandarin · pinyin lǎo niú pò chē

lit. old ox pulling a shabby cart (idiom)
fig. slow and inefficient

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Characters in this entry

老: lǎo · old, aged; experienced; Kangxi radical 125
牛: niú · cow, ox, bull; Kangxi radical 93; 9th lunar mansion, determinative star β Capricorni (Dabih)
破: pò · break, ruin, destroy; rout
車: chē · cart, vehicle; carry in a cart; Kangxi radical 159
车: chē · cart, vehicle; carry in cart

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2–4–1 · lao3 niu2 po4 che1

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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.

老牛破車 · find source passages ↗ · 老牛破车 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lou5 ngau4 po3 ce1

Cantonese word readings for 老牛破車. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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