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七手八腳

简七手八脚 · 繁七手八腳

Mandarin · pinyin qī shǒu bā jiǎo

(idiom) with everyone lending a hand (eagerly but somewhat chaotically)

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Characters in this entry

七: qī · seven
手: shǒu · hand
八: bā · eight; all around, all sides
腳: jiǎo · foot; base, leg, foundation
脚: jiǎo · leg, foot; base, leg, foundation

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

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Mandarin tones

1–3–1–3 · qi1 shou3 ba1 jiao3

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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.

七手八腳 · find source passages ↗ · 七手八脚 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cat1 sau2 baat3 goek3

Cantonese word readings for 七手八腳. 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) with many people lending a hand; chaotically

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

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