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一把手

Mandarin · pinyin yī bǎ shǒu

working hand; member of a work team; participant
the boss (short form of 第一把手 dì yī bǎ shǒu)

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Characters in this entry

一: yī · one; a, an; alone
把: bǎ · hold, take; guard; regard as
手: shǒu · hand

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

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Mandarin tones

1–3–3 · yi1 ba3 shou3

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

a party to an undertaking; a member; a hand
one vigorous action of hand
a good hand; a capable and outstanding person

noun

synonym of 第一把手 (dìyībǎshǒu, “first in command; chief”)

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

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