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趨之若鶩

简趋之若鹜 · 繁趨之若鶩

Mandarin · pinyin qū zhī ruò wù

to rush like ducks (idiom); the mob scrabbles madly for sth unobtainable
an unruly crowd on a wild goose chase

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Characters in this entry

趨: Look up this written character
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
若: ruò · if, supposing, assuming; similar
鶩: Look up this written character
趋: qū · hasten, hurry; be attracted to
鹜: wù · duck

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–4 · qu1 zhi1 ruo4 wu4

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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.

趨之若鶩 · find source passages ↗ · 趋之若鹜 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ceoi1 zi1 joek6 mou6

Cantonese word readings for 趨之若鶩. 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

(simile, derogatory) to go after something like a flock of ducks; to scramble for something

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

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