DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

老馬戀棧

简老马恋栈 · 繁老馬戀棧

Mandarin · pinyin lǎo mǎ liàn zhàn

lit. the old horse loves his stable
fig. sb old but reluctant to relinquish their post (idiom)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

老: lǎo · old, aged; experienced; Kangxi radical 125
馬: Look up this written character
戀: Look up this written character
棧: Look up this written character
马: mǎ · horse; surname; Kangxi radical 187
恋: liàn · love; long for, yearn for; love
栈: zhàn · warehouse; tavern, inn

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

3–3–4–4 · lao3 ma3 lian4 zhan4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

5character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

老馬戀棧 · find source passages ↗ · 老马恋栈 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lou5 maa5 lyun2 zaan6

Cantonese word readings for 老馬戀棧. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack