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一刀切

Mandarin · pinyin yī dāo qiē

lit. to cut all at one stroke (idiom); to impose uniformity
one solution fits a diversity of problems
one size fits all

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Characters in this entry

一: yī · one; a, an; alone
刀: dāo · knife; old coin; measure
切: qiè · cut, mince, slice, carve

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–1 · yi1 dao1 qie1

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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

jat1 dou1 cit3

Cantonese word readings for 一刀切. 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

(idiomatic, figurative) to impose uniformity; to deal with it the same way despite the differences in circumstances; to do things in a one-size-fits-all approach

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

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