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一發不可收拾

简一发不可收拾 · 繁一發不可收拾

Mandarin · pinyin yī fā bù kě shōu shi

once it gets started there's no stopping it

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Characters in this entry

一: yī · one; a, an; alone
發: fā · issue, dispatch, send out, emit
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
可: kě · may, can, -able; possibly
收: shōu · gather together, collect; harvest
拾: shí · pick up, collect, tidy up; accounting form of the numeral ten
发: fā · issue, dispatch, send out; hair

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–3–1–5 · yi1 fa1 bu4 ke3 shou1 shi5

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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.

一發不可收拾 · find source passages ↗ · 一发不可收拾 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jat1 faat3 bat1 ho2 sau1 sap6

Cantonese word readings for 一發不可收拾. 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) to get out of hand

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

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