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作鳥獸散

简作鸟兽散 · 繁作鳥獸散

Mandarin · pinyin zuò niǎo shòu sàn

lit. scatter like birds and beasts (idiom)
fig. to head off in various directions
to flee helter-skelter

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Characters in this entry

作: zuò · make; work; compose, write; act, perform
鳥: niǎo · bird; Kangxi radical 196
獸: Look up this written character
散: sàn · scatter, disperse, break up
鸟: niǎo · bird; Kangxi radical 196
兽: shòu · beast, animal; bestial

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–4–4 · zuo4 niao3 shou4 san4

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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.

作鳥獸散 · find source passages ↗ · 作鸟兽散 · find source passages ↗

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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) for a gathered crowd to suddenly disperse in a panicked manner

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

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