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趕鴨子上架

简赶鸭子上架 · 繁趕鴨子上架

Mandarin · pinyin gǎn yā zi shàng jià

lit. to drive a duck onto a perch (idiom)
fig. to push sb to do sth way beyond their ability

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Characters in this entry

趕: Look up this written character
鴨: yā · duck; Anas species (various)
子: zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch
上: shàng · top; superior, highest; go up, send up
架: jià · rack, stand, prop; prop up
赶: gǎn · pursue, follow; expel, drive away
鸭: yā · duck; Anas species (various)

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

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Mandarin tones

3–1–5–4–4 · gan3 ya1 zi5 shang4 jia4

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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.

趕鴨子上架 · find source passages ↗ · 赶鸭子上架 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gon2 aap3 zi2 soeng5 gaa2

Cantonese word readings for 趕鴨子上架. 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.

verb

(figurative, colloquial) to make someone do something entirely beyond them

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

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