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上氣不接下氣

简上气不接下气 · 繁上氣不接下氣

Mandarin · pinyin shàng qì bù jiē xià qì

(idiom) to be out of breath; to gasp for air

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Characters in this entry

上: shàng · top; superior, highest; go up, send up
氣: qì · air, gas, steam, vapor; spirit
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
接: jiē · receive; continue; catch; connect
下: xià · under, underneath, below; down; inferior; bring down
气: qì · steam, vapor; Kangxi radical 84

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–4–1–4–4 · shang4 qi4 bu4 jie1 xia4 qi4

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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.

上氣不接下氣 · find source passages ↗ · 上气不接下气 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

soeng6 hei3 bat1 zip3 haa6 hei3

Cantonese word readings for 上氣不接下氣. 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 be out of breath; to gasp for breath

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

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