取 长 补 短

qǔ cháng bǔ duǎndictionary entry

lit. use others' strengths to make up for one's weak points (idiom from Mencius) / to use this in place of that / what you lose on the swings, you win on the roundabouts

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-3899d2aa5530bbd6. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

取長補短 取长补短 [qu3 chang2 bu3 duan3] /lit. use others' strengths to make up for one's weak points (idiom from Mencius)/to use this in place of that/what you lose on the swings, you win on the roundabouts/

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Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

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Other forms in these source records: 取長補短

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.