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越俎代庖

Mandarin · pinyin yuè zǔ dài páo

lit. to go beyond the sacrificial altar and take over the kitchen (idiom); fig. to exceed one's place and meddle in other people's affairs
to take matters into one's own hands

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Characters in this entry

越: yuè · exceed, go beyond; the more ...
俎: zǔ · chopping board or block; painted
代: dài · replace, replacement (of person or generation); era, generation
庖: páo · kitchen; cooking, cuisine

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Mandarin tones

4–3–4–2 · yue4 zu3 dai4 pao2

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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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jyut6 zo2 doi6 paau4

Cantonese word readings for 越俎代庖. 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

(figurative) to overstep one's bounds and meddle in other's affairs

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

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