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骨鯁在喉

简骨鲠在喉 · 繁骨鯁在喉

Mandarin · pinyin gǔ gěng zài hóu

fish bone stuck in one's throat (idiom); fig. to feel obliged to speak out candidly
sth on one's mind

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Characters in this entry

骨: gǔ · bone; skeleton; frame, framework; Kangxi radical 188
鯁: Look up this written character
在: zài · be at, in, on; consist in, rest
喉: hóu · throat, gullet, larynx; guttural
鲠: gěng · fish bones; honest, upright

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–4–2 · gu3 geng3 zai4 hou2

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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.

骨鯁在喉 · find source passages ↗ · 骨鲠在喉 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gwat1 gang2 zoi6 hau4

Cantonese word readings for 骨鯁在喉. 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 have something that one must get off one's chest; to have to say or speak up about something to feel comfortable

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

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