DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

套用

Mandarin · pinyin tào yòng

to apply (sth hitherto used in a different context)
to use (rules, systems, models etc copied from elsewhere) (often implying that they aren't suited to the new situation)
to borrow (a phrase)
(Tw) (computing) to apply (a style, formatting etc)

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Characters in this entry

套: tào · case, cover, wrapper, envelope
用: yòng · use, employ, apply, operate; use

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4 · tao4 yong4

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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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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

tou3 jung6

Cantonese word readings for 套用. 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.

verb

to apply mechanically; to use indiscriminately

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

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