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草率收兵

Mandarin · pinyin cǎo shuài shōu bīng

to work vaguely then retreat (idiom); sloppy and half-hearted
half-baked

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Characters in this entry

草: cǎo · grass, straw, thatch, herbs
率: lǜ · to lead; ratio; rate; limit
收: shōu · gather together, collect; harvest
兵: bīng · soldier, troops

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–1–1 · cao3 shuai4 shou1 bing1

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cou2 seot1 sau1 bing1

Cantonese word readings for 草率收兵. 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) to hastily declare the matter closed; to wind up in a hurry

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

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