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刀筆

简刀笔 · 繁刀筆

Mandarin · pinyin dāo bǐ

writing up of official or judicial documents
pettifoggery

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Characters in this entry

刀: dāo · knife; old coin; measure
筆: bǐ · writing brush; write; stroke
笔: bǐ · writing brush; write; stroke

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

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Mandarin tones

1–3 · dao1 bi3

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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.

刀筆 · find source passages ↗ · 刀笔 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dou1 bat1

Cantonese word readings for 刀筆. 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.

noun

(historical) writing up of official or judicial documents; pettifoggery
(historical) short for 刀筆吏／刀笔吏

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

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