DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
靠
Mandarin · pinyin kào
Meanings
- to lean against or on
- to stand by the side of
- to come near to
- to depend on
- to trust
- to fuck (vulgar)
- traditional military costume drama where the performers wear armor (old)
Characters in this entry
- 靠
- kào · lean on, trust, depend on; near
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Mandarin tones
4 · kao4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
1character link6same-tone records
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.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.
Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
kaau3
Cantonese word readings for 靠. 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
- to lean on; to recline
- to depend on; to rely on
- to trust; to have confidence in
- to come near to; to approach
- to keep to (a certain side)
- (minced oath) alternative form of 肏 (“to fuck”); frick
- (Northern Wu) approximately
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack