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洗牙

Mandarin · pinyin xǐ yá

(dentistry) to perform or undergo scaling (removal of dental plaque and calculus)

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Characters in this entry

洗: xǐ · wash, rinse; clean, purify
牙: yá · tooth, molars, teeth; serrated

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2 · xi3 ya2

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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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sai2 ngaa4

Cantonese word readings for 洗牙. 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

(of a dentist or dental hygienist) to clean the teeth; to perform teeth scaling
(Zhao'an Hakka, Northern Min, Eastern Min, Wenzhounese) to brush one's teeth

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

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