DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

燈泡

简灯泡 · 繁燈泡

Mandarin · pinyin dēng pào

light bulb
see also 電燈泡 diàn dēng pào
third-wheel or unwanted third party spoiling a couple's date (slang)
Classifier: 個 gè

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Characters in this entry

燈: dēng · lantern, lamp
泡: pào · bubbles, suds; blister; soak
灯: dēng · lantern, lamp

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4 · deng1 pao4

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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.

燈泡 · find source passages ↗ · 灯泡 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dang1 paau1

Cantonese word readings for 燈泡. 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

light bulb (Classifier: 顆／颗 m)
(figurative) third wheel (accompanying two people on a date) (Classifier: 個／个 m)

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

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