DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

量入為出

简量入为出 · 繁量入為出

Mandarin · pinyin liàng rù wéi chū

to assess one's income and spend accordingly (idiom); to live within one's means
You can only spend what you earn.

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Characters in this entry

量: liàng · measure, quantity, capacity
入: rù · enter, come in(to), join
為: Look up this written character
出: chū · go out, send out; stand; produce
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–2–1 · liang4 ru4 wei2 chu1

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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.

量入為出 · find source passages ↗ · 量入为出 · 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) make ends meet; adjust one's expense to one's income; base one's expenditures upon one's income

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

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