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倒灶

Mandarin · pinyin dǎo zào

to fall (from power)
in decline
unlucky

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Characters in this entry

倒: dào · fall over; lie down; take turns
灶: zào · kitchen stove, cooking stove

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4 · dao3 zao4

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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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 7 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

verb

(dialectal) to collapse; to fall; to decline (in status or wealth)
(Cantonese) to be more of a hindrance than a help
(Gan, derogatory) to damn (used as a curse)

adj

(dialectal) unlucky; out of luck
(Huizhou, Jinhua Wu) bad; terrible
(Jinhua Wu) poor; impoverished

noun

(Eastern Min, derogatory) spendthrift (especially female)

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

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