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倒戈

Mandarin · pinyin dǎo gē

to change sides in a war
turncoat

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Characters in this entry

倒: dào · fall over; lie down; take turns
戈: gē · halberd, spear, lance; rad. 62

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Mandarin tones

3–1 · dao3 ge1

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dou2 gwo1

Cantonese word readings for 倒戈. 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

(literally) to turn the weapon backwards, or upside-down
(figuratively) to change sides in a conflict; to defect

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

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