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貪多嚼不爛

简贪多嚼不烂 · 繁貪多嚼不爛

Mandarin · pinyin tān duō jiáo bù làn

to bite off more than one can chew (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

貪: Look up this written character
多: duō · much, many; more than, over
嚼: jué · prattle, be glib
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
爛: Look up this written character
贪: tān · be greedy, covet; covetous
烂: làn · rotten, spoiled, decayed

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–2–4–4 · tan1 duo1 jiao2 bu4 lan4

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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.

貪多嚼不爛 · find source passages ↗ · 贪多嚼不烂 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

taam1 do1 zoek3 bat1 laan6

Cantonese word readings for 貪多嚼不爛. 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 bite off more than one can chew

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

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