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磨牙

Mandarin · pinyin mó yá

to grind one's teeth (during sleep)
pointless arguing
(coll.) molar

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Characters in this entry

磨: mó · grind; polish; rub; wear out; a millstone
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

2–2 · mo2 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 · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

mo4 ngaa4

Cantonese word readings for 磨牙. 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

(dentistry) to grind one's teeth (during sleep)
(dialectal) to argue pointlessly; to indulge in idle talk

noun

(Mainland China) molar

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

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