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匕

Mandarin · pinyin bǐ

dagger
ladle
ancient type of spoon

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Characters in this entry

匕: bǐ · spoon, ladle; knife, dirk

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

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Mandarin tones

3 · bi3

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1character link27same-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

bei2 · bei3 · bei6

Cantonese word readings for 匕. 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

(historical) a kind of spoon in ancient China
(literary) dagger
(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) arrow
(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) people
(historical dictionaries only) original form of 妣 (bǐ, “deceased mother”)
Occasionally used as an iteration marker.

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

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