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刀槍不入

简刀枪不入 · 繁刀槍不入

Mandarin · pinyin dāo qiāng bù rù

lit. impervious to sword or spear (idiom)
fig. invulnerable
untouchable
thick-skinned
impervious to criticism

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Characters in this entry

刀: dāo · knife; old coin; measure
槍: Look up this written character
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
入: rù · enter, come in(to), join
枪: qiāng · spear, lance; gun, rifle

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–4 · dao1 qiang1 bu4 ru4

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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.

刀槍不入 · find source passages ↗ · 刀枪不入 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dou1 coeng1 bat1 jap6

Cantonese word readings for 刀槍不入. 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) swords and spears cannot penetrate the body; to be bulletproof; impervious; invulnerable

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

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