駑馬戀棧

简 驽马恋栈 · 繁 駑馬戀棧
Mandarin · pinyin nú mǎ liàn zhàn

Meanings

  1. lit. a worn-out horse is reluctant to leave the stable (idiom)
  2. fig. a mediocre worker clings to a good position
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Characters in this entry

駑
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馬
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戀
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棧
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驽
nú · tired, old horse; old, weak
马
mǎ · horse; surname; Kangxi radical 187
恋
liàn · love; long for, yearn for; love
栈
zhàn · warehouse; tavern, inn
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–3–4–4 · nu2 ma3 lian4 zhan4

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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.

駑馬戀棧 · find source passages ↗ · 驽马恋栈 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

nou4 maa5 lyun2 zaan6

Cantonese word readings for 駑馬戀棧. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

駑馬戀棧 · nu2 ma3 lian4 zhan4
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 121,051
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record駑馬戀棧 驽马恋栈 [nu2 ma3 lian4 zhan4] /lit. a worn-out horse is reluctant to leave the stable (idiom)/fig. a mediocre worker clings to a good position/