別苗頭

简 别苗头 · 繁 別苗頭
Mandarin · pinyin bié miáo tou

Meanings

  1. (dialect) to compete with
  2. to pit oneself against
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Characters in this entry

別
Look up this written character
苗
miáo · sprouts; Miao nationality
頭
tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
别
bié · separate, other; do not
头
tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–2–5 · bie2 miao2 tou5

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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 · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

verb

  1. to vie; to compete with

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

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