DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

難以捉摸

简难以捉摸 · 繁難以捉摸

Mandarin · pinyin nán yǐ zhuō mō

elusive
hard to pin down
enigmatic

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Characters in this entry

難: Look up this written character
以: yǐ · by means of; thereby, therefore; consider as; in order to
捉: zhuō · grasp, clutch; catch, seize
摸: mō · gently touch with hand; caress
难: nán · difficult, arduous, hard; unable

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

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Mandarin tones

2–3–1–1 · nan2 yi3 zhuo1 mo1

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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.

難以捉摸 · find source passages ↗ · 难以捉摸 · find source passages ↗

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