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牙

Mandarin · pinyin yá

tooth
ivory
Classifier: 顆 kē

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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

2 · ya2

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1character link27same-tone records1source reference

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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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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ngaa4

Cantonese word readings for 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.

character

(anatomy) tooth (Classifier: 顆／颗 m; 隻／只 m c; 棚 c)
(anatomy) ivory; tusk of elephant
screw thread
(literary, obsolete) to bite
(obsolete) alternative form of 衙 (“government office; yamen”)
(obsolete) alternative form of 芽 (yá, “to sprout”)
(Hong Kong Cantonese, Internet slang, leetspeak, neologism) Prefix used in front of the surname or last character of someone’s given name to express familiarity or friendliness.
(historical) broker

character

(historical) felloe; rim of a wheel

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

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