失手

Mandarin · pinyin shī shǒu

Meanings

  1. a slip
  2. miscalculation
  3. unwise move
  4. accidentally
  5. by mistake
  6. to lose control
  7. to be defeated
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Characters in this entry

失
shī · lose; make mistake, neglect
手
shǒu · hand
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–3 · shi1 shou3

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2character links1same-tone record
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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 · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sat1 sau2

Cantonese word readings for 失手. 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

  1. to lose control of one's hand and accidentally drop something
  2. (figurative) to slip; to miscalculate; to take an unwise move

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

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