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戛然而止

Mandarin · pinyin jiá rán ér zhǐ

with a grunting sound it stops (idiom); to come to an end spontaneously (esp. of sound)

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Characters in this entry

戛: jiá · lance; tap or strike lightly
然: rán · yes, certainly; pledge, promise
而: ér · and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
止: zhǐ · stop, halt, desist; detain

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–2–3 · jia2 ran2 er2 zhi3

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(especially of a sound) to stop abruptly

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

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