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夾起尾巴

简夹起尾巴 · 繁夾起尾巴

Mandarin · pinyin jiā qǐ wěi ba

to tuck one's tail between one's legs
fig. to back down
in a humiliating situation

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Characters in this entry

夾: Look up this written character
起: qǐ · rise, stand up; go up; begin
尾: wěi · tail, extremity; end, stern; 6th lunar mansion, determinative star μ¹ Scorpii (Xamidimura)
巴: bā · greatly desire, anxiously hope
夹: jiā · be wedged or inserted between

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

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Mandarin tones

1–3–3–5 · jia1 qi3 wei3 ba5

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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.

夾起尾巴 · find source passages ↗ · 夹起尾巴 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gaap3 hei2 mei5 baa1

Cantonese word readings for 夾起尾巴. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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