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蠹

Mandarin · pinyin dù

insect that eats into books, clothing etc
moth-eaten
worm-eaten

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蠹: dù · moth; insects which eat into cloth

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

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Mandarin tones

4 · du4

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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.

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dou3

Cantonese word readings for 蠹. 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.

character

insect that eats through paper, clothes, wood, etc.
insect that eats through paper, clothes, wood, etc. — (specifically) silverfish
(figuratively) harmful person; vermin
to erode; to eat away at
moth-eaten; worm-eaten

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

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