DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

荼毒生靈

简荼毒生灵 · 繁荼毒生靈

Mandarin · pinyin tú dú shēng líng

to torment the people (idiom)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

荼: tú · thistle, sowthistle; bitter
毒: dú · poison, venom; poisonous
生: shēng · life, living, lifetime; birth
靈: Look up this written character
灵: líng · spirit, soul; spiritual world

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–2–1–2 · tu2 du2 sheng1 ling2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character 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.

荼毒生靈 · find source passages ↗ · 荼毒生灵 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

tou4 duk6 sang1 ling4

Cantonese word readings for 荼毒生靈. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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