DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

單刀直入

简单刀直入 · 繁單刀直入

Mandarin · pinyin dān dāo zhí rù

(idiom) to get straight to the point

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Characters in this entry

單: Look up this written character
刀: dāo · knife; old coin; measure
直: zhí · straight, erect, vertical
入: rù · enter, come in(to), join
单: dān · single, individual, only; lone

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–2–4 · dan1 dao1 zhi2 ru4

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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.

單刀直入 · find source passages ↗ · 单刀直入 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

daan1 dou1 zik6 jap6

Cantonese word readings for 單刀直入. 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.

phrase

(idiomatic) to get straight to the point; to be straightforward

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

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