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手下敗將

简手下败将 · 繁手下敗將

Mandarin · pinyin shǒu xià bài jiàng

(idiom) one's defeated opponent

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Characters in this entry

手: shǒu · hand
下: xià · under, underneath, below; down; inferior; bring down
敗: Look up this written character
將: Look up this written character
败: bài · be defeated, decline, fail
将: jiāng · will, going to, future; general

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–4–4 · shou3 xia4 bai4 jiang4

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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.

手下敗將 · find source passages ↗ · 手下败将 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sau2 haa6 baai6 zoeng3

Cantonese word readings for 手下敗將. 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.

phrase

(idiomatic) one's defeated opponent; person who has been defeated by one

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

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