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事到臨頭

简事到临头 · 繁事到臨頭

Mandarin · pinyin shì dào lín tóu

when things come to a head (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

事: shì · affair, matter, business; to serve; accident, incident
到: dào · go to, arrive, been to
臨: Look up this written character
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
临: lín · draw near, approach; descend
头: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–2–2 · shi4 dao4 lin2 tou2

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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.

事到臨頭 · find source passages ↗ · 事到临头 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

si6 dou3 lam4 tau4

Cantonese word readings for 事到臨頭. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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