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天花板

Mandarin · pinyin tiān huā bǎn

ceiling (of a room)
(fig.) upper limit; (slang) the very best (in a given field)

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Characters in this entry

天: tiān · sky, heaven; god, celestial
花: huā · flower; blossoms
板: bǎn · plank, board; iron or tin plate

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–3 · tian1 hua1 ban3

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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 · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

tin1 faa1 baan2

Cantonese word readings for 天花板. 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.

noun

ceiling
(figurative) ceiling; upper limit
(Dungan, Jin, anatomy) palate; upper jaw; maxilla

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

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