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老馬識途

简老马识途 · 繁老馬識途

Mandarin · pinyin lǎo mǎ shí tú

an old horse knows the way (idiom); an experienced worker knows what to do
an old hand knows the ropes

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Characters in this entry

老: lǎo · old, aged; experienced; Kangxi radical 125
馬: Look up this written character
識: Look up this written character
途: tú · way, road, path, journey; course
马: mǎ · horse; surname; Kangxi radical 187
识: shí · shì · recognize, understand, know

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–2–2 · lao3 ma3 shi2 tu2

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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.

老馬識途 · find source passages ↗ · 老马识途 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lou5 maa5 sik1 tou4

Cantonese word readings for 老馬識途. 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

(idiomatic) an experienced worker knows what to do; an old hand knows the ropes

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

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