蠶食鯨吞

Chinese

		to eat like a silkworm; to encroach upon; to eat away to eat like a silkworm; to encroach upon; to eat away; to nibble away at	to swallow; to annex
trad. (蠶食鯨吞)		蠶食	鯨吞
simp. (蚕食鲸吞)		蚕食	鲸吞
Literally: “to nibble away like a silkworm or swallow like a whale”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): cánshíjīngtūn

  (Zhuyin): ㄘㄢˊ ㄕˊ ㄐㄧㄥ ㄊㄨㄣ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): caam⁴ sik⁶ king⁴ tan¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: cánshíjīngtūn
    • Zhuyin: ㄘㄢˊ ㄕˊ ㄐㄧㄥ ㄊㄨㄣ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cánshíhjingtun
    • Wade–Giles: tsʻan²-shih²-ching¹-tʻun¹
    • Yale: tsán-shŕ-jīng-twūn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tsarnshyrjingtuen
    • Palladius: цаньшицзинтунь (canʹšiczintunʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰän³⁵ ʂʐ̩³⁵ t͡ɕiŋ⁵⁵ tʰu̯ən⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: caam⁴ sik⁶ king⁴ tan¹
    • Yale: chàahm sihk kìhng tān
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsaam⁴ sik⁹ king⁴ tan¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: cam⁴ xig⁶ king⁴ ten¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰaːm²¹ sɪk̚² kʰɪŋ²¹ tʰɐn⁵⁵/

Idiom

蠶食鯨吞

1. to seize another country's territory by piecemeal encroachment or wholesale annexation