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拍子

Mandarin · pinyin pāi zi

beat (music)
paddle-shaped object (flyswatter etc)
racket (sports)

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Characters in this entry

拍: pāi · clap, tap, beat; beat or rhythm
子: zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch

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

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Mandarin tones

1–5 · pai1 zi5

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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 · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

paak3 zi2

Cantonese word readings for 拍子. 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.

noun

small bat such as a fly swatter, tennis racket, ping-pong paddle, etc.
(music) beat; time
(Jin) flour pieces mixed with water (when making noodles)

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

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