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一時半刻

简一时半刻 · 繁一時半刻

Mandarin · pinyin yī shí bàn kè

(idiom) a short time; a little while

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Characters in this entry

一: yī · one; a, an; alone
時: shí · time, season; era, age, period
半: bàn · half
刻: kè · carve, engrave; quarter hour
时: shí · time, season; era, age, period

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–4–4 · yi1 shi2 ban4 ke4

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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.

一時半刻 · find source passages ↗ · 一时半刻 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jat1 si4 bun3 hak1

Cantonese word readings for 一時半刻. 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) a short time; a little while

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

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