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巴

Mandarin · pinyin bā#

to long for
to wish
to cling to
to stick to
sth that sticks
close to
next to
spread open
informal abbr. for bus 巴士 bā shì
bar (unit of pressure)
nominalizing suffix on certain nouns, such as 尾巴 wěi ba, tail

Mandarin · pinyin Bā#

Ba, a state during the Zhou dynasty (in present-day Chongqing and the eastern part of Sichuan)
the east of Sichuan and Chongqing Municipality
surname Ba
(bound form) abbr. for 巴勒斯坦 Bā lè sī tǎn (Palestine), 巴基斯坦 Bā jī sī tǎn (Pakistan) or 巴西 Bā xī (Brazil)

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巴: bā · greatly desire, anxiously hope

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

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Mandarin tones

1 · ba1

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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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Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

baa1

Cantonese word readings for 巴. 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.

character · Etymology 1

(Classical) python (snake)
(ancient Chinese mythology) a huge snake that could swallow an elephant
to greatly desire; to anxiously hope; to long for
Used as a suffix for objects that are located below or behind.
Used as a suffix for objects that are clumped together due to dryness or stickiness.
to cling to; to stick to
(Jilu Mandarin, Sichuanese, dialectal Wu) to be close to; to be next to
(Beijing Mandarin, Jilu Mandarin) to open; to spread
(Sichuanese) to suit; to fit
(Sichuanese) to follow
(Sichuanese) to be intimate
(Sichuanese) to involve; to implicate
(Sichuanese) to kiss up; to curry favour
(Sichuanese) to subsidize
(Sichuanese) to infect; to contract
(dialectal Mandarin, including Beijing Mandarin, Shandong Mandarin, Xinjiang Mandarin) to sew; to stitch on
(Southwestern Mandarin; Xiamen and Quanzhou Hokkien) dried object
(dialectal Mandarin, Cantonese) Classifier for the number of slaps.
(Jiaoliao Mandarin, Sichuanese) along
(historical) Ba (an ancient state in modern-day Sichuan)
eastern Sichuan and Chongqing
Used in transcription.
(abbreviation, alt-of) Used in transcription. — short for 巴士 (bāshì, “bus”)
Used in transcription. — (physics) bar (unit of pressure)
Used in transcription. — (Cantonese) bar (Classifier: 條／条 c)
(abbreviation, alt-of) Used in transcription. — short for 巴勒斯坦 (Bālèsītǎn, “Palestine”)
(abbreviation, alt-of) Used in transcription. — short for 巴基斯坦 (Bājīsītǎn, “Pakistan”)
(abbreviation, alt-of) Used in transcription. — short for 巴拿馬／巴拿马 (Bānámǎ, “Panama”)
(abbreviation, alt-of) Used in transcription. — short for 巴哈馬／巴哈马 (Bāhāmǎ, “The Bahamas”)
(abbreviation, alt-of) Used in transcription. — short for 巴拉圭 (Bālāguī, “Paraguay”)
a surname

character · Etymology 2

(colloquial) A suffix used after monosyllabic verbs, often gives the verb a sense of nonchalance.

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

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