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一來二去

简一来二去 · 繁一來二去

Mandarin · pinyin yī lái èr qù

gradually
little by little
in the course of time

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Characters in this entry

一: yī · one; a, an; alone
來: lái · come, coming; return, returning
二: èr · two; twice
去: qù · go away, leave, depart
来: lái · come, coming; return, returning

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–4–4 · yi1 lai2 er4 qu4

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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.

一來二去 · find source passages ↗ · 一来二去 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jat1 loi4 ji6 heoi3

Cantonese word readings for 一來二去. 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.

phrase

(idiomatic) in the course of contacts; gradually; little by little

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

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