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釜底抽薪

Mandarin · pinyin fǔ dǐ chōu xīn

to take drastic measures to deal with a situation
to pull the carpet from under sb

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Characters in this entry

釜: fǔ · cauldron, pot, kettle
底: dǐ · bottom, underneath, underside
抽: chōu · draw out, pull out; sprout
薪: xīn · fuel, firewood; salary

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–1–1 · fu3 di3 chou1 xin1

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

fu2 dai2 cau1 san1

Cantonese word readings for 釜底抽薪. 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

(idiomatic) to deal with a problem from the root

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

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