十三太保

Cantonese · source Jyutpingsap6 saam1 taai3 bou2

Meanings

  1. a secret agent [colloquial]
About these definitions

Source definition segments, in their original order. Characters a definition cites are shown without their Mandarin pinyin; classifier lists that CC-Canto copied from CC-CEDICT are marked Mandarin. The community dictionary is not independently verified by zimai.

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Reading & tones

Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.

Same syllable, six tones

sap湿sap1trivialsap2—sap3—sap4—sap5—十sap6ten
saam三saam1threesaam2—saam3—saam4—saam5—saam6—
taai呔taai1tiretaai2—太taai3Great-grandtaai4—taai5—taai6—

Characters whose customary Unihan reading (kCantonese) is this syllable in each tone, chosen as in the tone atlas (2013 standard level, then the number of CC-CEDICT words they form), with CC-Canto 2017's meaning for that reading; a dash means no catalogue character has that reading. Checked syllables (-p, -t, -k) normally carry tones 1, 3 and 6. Character readings, not word readings; no frequency implied.

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Written characters

Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.

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Mandarin comparison · separate source entries

CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: shi2san1 tai4bao3. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sap6 saam1 taai3 bou2

Cantonese word readings for 十三太保. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

name

  1. (historical) the 13 godsons of Li Keyong in Later Tang

noun

  1. (figuratively) someone that can be trusted

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

CC-Canto · Pleco Inc. · edition 2017-02-02
Source line 22,823 · Original publisher · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Edition & transformations
Exact source record & identity十三太保 十三太保 [shi2san1 tai4bao3] {sap6 saam1 taai3 bou2} /a secret agent [colloquial]/

SHA-256: 7e63c519e32c23225dbd1e1fb2f174c89c2c1dd759a60d8e22abf7f162451a52