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臨頭

简临头 · 繁臨頭

Mandarin · pinyin lín tóu

to befall
to be imminent

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Characters in this entry

臨: Look up this written character
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
临: lín · draw near, approach; descend
头: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2 · lin2 tou2

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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.

臨頭 · find source passages ↗ · 临头 · find source passages ↗

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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

to befall; to happen; to be imminent

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

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