吳頭楚尾

简 吴头楚尾 · 繁 吳頭楚尾
Mandarin · pinyin Wú tóu Chǔ wěi

Meanings

  1. lit. head in Wu and tail in Chu (idiom); fig. close together
  2. head-to-tail
  3. one thing starts where the other leaves off
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Characters in this entry

吳
Look up this written character
頭
tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
楚
chǔ · name of feudal state; clear
尾
wěi · tail, extremity; end, stern; 6th lunar mansion, determinative star μ¹ Scorpii (Xamidimura)
吴
wú · name of warring state; surname
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

2–2–3–3 · Wu2 tou2 Chu3 wei3

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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.

吳頭楚尾 · find source passages ↗ · 吴头楚尾 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ng4 tau4 co2 mei5

Cantonese word readings for 吳頭楚尾. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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

吳頭楚尾 · Wu2 tou2 Chu3 wei3
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 20,666
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record吳頭楚尾 吴头楚尾 [Wu2 tou2 Chu3 wei3] /lit. head in Wu and tail in Chu (idiom); fig. close together/head-to-tail/one thing starts where the other leaves off/