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忙里偷闲

máng lǐ tōu xiándictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
(idiom) to snatch a moment of leisure in the midst of a busy schedule
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-cdf5e057bac6fe06. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

忙裡偷閑 忙里偷闲 [mang2 li3 tou1 xian2] /(idiom) to snatch a moment of leisure in the midst of a busy schedule/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

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

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 忙裡偷閑

  • 忙
    máng

    busy / hurriedly / to hurry / to rush

  • 里
    lǐ

    lining / interior / inside / internal / also written 裏|里[lǐ] / li, ancient measure of length, approx. 500 m / neighborhood / ancient administrative unit of 25 families / (Tw) borough, administrative unit between the township 鎮|镇[zhèn] and neighborhood 鄰|邻[lín] levels

    Lǐ

    surname Li

  • 偷
    tōu

    to steal / (bound form) thief / (bound form) secretly; on the sly

  • 闲
    xián

    enclosure / (variant of 閒|闲[xián]) idle / unoccupied / leisure / idle

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.