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倒

Mandarin · pinyin dǎo#

to fall; to collapse; to lie horizontally
to fail; to go bankrupt
to overthrow
to change (trains or buses)
to move around
to resell at a profit

Mandarin · pinyin dào#

to invert; to place upside down or frontside back
to pour out
to tip out; to dump
inverted; upside down; reversed
to go backward
contrary to what one might expect; but; yet

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Characters in this entry

倒: dào · fall over; lie down; take turns

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

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Mandarin tones

3 · dao3

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Connected dictionary

1character link16same-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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 27 senses · 2 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dou2 · dou3

Cantonese word readings for 倒. 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

to fall; to fall over; to fall down
to collapse; to fall in
to lie down; to recline
to fail; to be on the decline
to be damaged; to malfunction
to go bankrupt; to close down
to sell out; to sell up; to give up for money
to buy and resell for a profit
to stop; to discontinue
to move; to move around
to change; to switch over
(Internet slang, dated) to be astonished (hyperbolically to the extent that one fells down); to be left speechless
(Southwestern Mandarin) Particle indicating the continuation of an action or a state.
(Southwestern Mandarin) Particle denoting a command, request or advice.
(Cantonese, obsolete) Used after a positional verb to indicate a change of location.

character

to put upside down; to invert; to be inverted
to reverse; to move backwards; to turn back
upside down; inverted; flipped; reversed
(Southern Min) left (direction)

character

to pour out; to dump; to empty
to cast; to mould
contrary to expectation; conversely; on the contrary; instead
particle indicating contrast; but; however
particle used after a ‹verb + 得› structure to indicate it is contrary to the actual situation, implying blame; then
particle used in a subordinate clause at the beginning of a sentence to indicate concession; quite
particle used in an imperative sentence to indicate impatience
particle used to soften the tone

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

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