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交頭接耳

简交头接耳 · 繁交頭接耳

Mandarin · pinyin jiāo tóu jiē ěr

to whisper to one another's ear

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Characters in this entry

交: jiāo · mix; intersect; exchange, communicate; deliver
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
接: jiē · receive; continue; catch; connect
耳: ěr · ear; merely, only; handle; Kangxi radical 128
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

1–2–1–3 · jiao1 tou2 jie1 er3

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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.

交頭接耳 · find source passages ↗ · 交头接耳 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gaau1 tau4 zip3 ji5

Cantonese word readings for 交頭接耳. 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 speak in each other's ears; to whisper to each other

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

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