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二把刀

Mandarin · pinyin èr bǎ dāo

inexpert
a botcher

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Characters in this entry

二: èr · two; twice
把: bǎ · hold, take; guard; regard as
刀: dāo · knife; old coin; measure

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–1 · er4 ba3 dao1

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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.

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ji6 baa2 dou1

Cantonese word readings for 二把刀. 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.

noun

assistant to the chef; the cook's helper; kitchenhand
(figurative) smatterer; dabbler; novice; amateur

verb

to have a smattering of a subject

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

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