乍

Mandarin · pinyin zhà

Meanings

  1. at first
  2. suddenly
  3. abruptly
  4. to spread
  5. (of hair) to stand on end
  6. bristling
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Characters in this entry

乍
zhà · first time, for the first time
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4 · zha4

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1character link26same-tone records
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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.

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zaa3 · zaa6

Cantonese word readings for 乍. 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.

character · Etymology 1

  1. suddenly
  2. at first
  3. (Eastern Min) just; exactly
  4. (Eastern Min) only a short while ago; just
  5. a surname, Zha

character · Etymology 2

  1. (Southern Min) to deep-fry slightly

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack