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乘人不備

简乘人不备 · 繁乘人不備

Mandarin · pinyin chéng rén bù bèi

to take advantage of sb in an unguarded moment (idiom)
to take sb by surprise

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Characters in this entry

乘: chéng · ride, ascend; avail oneself of; numerary adjunct for vehicles
人: rén · man; people; mankind; someone else
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
備: bèi · prepare, ready, perfect
备: bèi · prepare, ready, perfect

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–4–4 · cheng2 ren2 bu4 bei4

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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.

乘人不備 · find source passages ↗ · 乘人不备 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sing4 jan4 bat1 bei6

Cantonese word readings for 乘人不備. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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