DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

地頭蛇

简地头蛇 · 繁地頭蛇

Mandarin · pinyin dì tóu shé

local bully
tyrant
regional mafia boss

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Characters in this entry

地: de · dì · earth; soil, ground; region
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
蛇: shé · snake
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

4–2–2 · di4 tou2 she2

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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.

地頭蛇 · find source passages ↗ · 地头蛇 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dei6 tau4 se4

Cantonese word readings for 地頭蛇. 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

(figurative) local bully; peremptory or tyrannical local

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

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