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咳

Mandarin · pinyin hāi#

sound of sighing
(interjection expressing surprise, sorrow, regret, disappointment etc) oh
damn
wow

Mandarin · pinyin ké#

cough

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Characters in this entry

咳: hāi · cough

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

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Mandarin tones

1 · hai1

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1character link5same-tone records

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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 · 8 senses · 6 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

haai1 · haai4 · hei1 · hoi4 · kat1 · koi3

Cantonese word readings for 咳. 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.

character

to cough
cough

character

Used to express sorrow, remorse, or surprise.

character

(of infant) to laugh; to cackle
(alt-of, alternative) alternative form of 孩 (hái, “child; infant”)
interjection for sighing or order
(alt-of, alternative) alternative form of 閡 /阂 (“to be cut off from”)

character

(Cantonese) alternative form of 㩿 (kak¹) (used in 甩咳)

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

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