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偷笑

Mandarin · pinyin tōu xiào

to laugh up one's sleeve

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Characters in this entry

偷: tōu · to steal, burglar, thief
笑: xiào · smile, laugh, giggle; snicker

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4 · tou1 xiao4

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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 · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

tau1 siu3

Cantonese word readings for 偷笑. 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.

verb

to giggle; to silently giggle; to secretly laugh; to laugh in one's sleeve
(figurative) to be content or grateful that even something less than ideal occurs

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

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