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打底

Mandarin · pinyin dǎ dǐ

to lay a foundation (also fig.)
to make a first sketch
to eat sth before drinking
to apply an undercoat

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Characters in this entry

打: dǎ · strike, hit, beat; fight; attack
底: dǐ · bottom, underneath, underside

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3 · da3 di3

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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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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

daa2 dai2

Cantonese word readings for 打底. 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 lay a foundation — (painting) to make a first sketch
to lay a foundation — to apply an undercoat
to lay a foundation — to eat something before drinking
to lay a foundation — (figurative) to arrange beforehand

verb

(Hakka) to fill up one's stomach

noun

(Hakka) end part of something

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

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