DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

保留

Mandarin · pinyin bǎo liú

to keep
to retain
to have reservations (about sth)
to hold back (from saying sth)
to put aside for later

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Characters in this entry

保: bǎo · protect, safeguard, defend, care
留: liú · stop, halt; stay, detain, keep

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2 · bao3 liu2

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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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 4 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bou2 lau4

Cantonese word readings for 保留. 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.

verb

(transitive) to retain; to keep; to preserve; to hold back
(transitive) to reserve
(transitive) to defer for future discussion
(transitive) to maintain (an original state)

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

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