DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

踏破鐵鞋

简踏破铁鞋 · 繁踏破鐵鞋

Mandarin · pinyin tà pò tiě xié

(lit.) to wear out one's iron shoes (idiom)
(fig.) to search high and low

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Characters in this entry

踏: tà · step on, trample, tread on, walk
破: pò · break, ruin, destroy; rout
鐵: Look up this written character
鞋: xié · shoes, footwear in general
铁: tiě · iron; strong, solid, firm

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–3–2 · ta4 po4 tie3 xie2

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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.

踏破鐵鞋 · find source passages ↗ · 踏破铁鞋 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to search high and low

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

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