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泡湯

简泡汤 · 繁泡湯

Mandarin · pinyin pào tāng

(coll.) to fizzle out; to come to nothing
to dawdle; to stall
(Tw) to have a soak in a hot spring bath

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Characters in this entry

泡: pào · bubbles, suds; blister; soak
湯: Look up this written character
汤: tāng · hot water; soup, gravy, broth

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1 · pao4 tang1

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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

paau3 tong1

Cantonese word readings for 泡湯. 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

(literally) to bathe in hot water, especially a hot spring
(colloquial) to fall through

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

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