CANTONESE ↔ ENGLISH · CC-CANTO

手指拗出唔拗入

Cantonese · source Jyutpingsau2 zi2 aau2 ceot1 m4 aau2 jap6

an idiom describing a person who doesn't side or support those who are close to him
her (especially family members and best friends) and only helps outsiders

About these definitions

Source definition segments, in their original order. Characters a definition cites are shown without their Mandarin pinyin; classifier lists that CC-Canto copied from CC-CEDICT are marked Mandarin. The community dictionary is not independently verified by zimai.

Full entryShow on map

Reading & tones

sau22 · high risingzi22 · high risingaau22 · high risingceot11 · high levelchecked · -tm44 · low fallingaau22 · high risingjap66 · low levelchecked · -p

Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.

Same syllable, six tones

sau收sau1to receive 手sau2hand 秀sau3handsome 仇sau4hatredsau5—受sau6to receive

zi之zi1…子zi2son 志zi3signzi4—zi5—自zi6from

aauaau1—拗aau2to bend in two so as to break 凹aau3a depressionaau4—aau5—aau6—

ceot出ceot1classifier for dramas, plays, operas etcceot2—ceot3—ceot4—ceot5—ceot6—

mm1—呣m2m3—唔m4notm5—m6—

jap邑jap1cityjap2—jap3—jap4—jap5—入jap6to enter

Characters whose customary Unihan reading (kCantonese) is this syllable in each tone, chosen as in the tone atlas (2013 standard level, then the number of CC-CEDICT words they form), with CC-Canto 2017's meaning for that reading; a dash means no catalogue character has that reading. Checked syllables (-p, -t, -k) normally carry tones 1, 3 and 6. Character readings, not word readings; no frequency implied.

Explore words with this reading ↗

Written characters

手指拗出唔入

Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.

Cantonese characters and the Mandarin bridge ↗

Mandarin comparison · separate source entries

CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: shou3 zhi3 ao3 chu1 n2 ao3 ru4. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.

Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 2 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sau2 zi2 aau2 ceot1 m4 aau2 jap6 · sau2 zi2 ngaau2 ceot1 m4 ngaau2 jap6

Cantonese word readings for 手指拗出唔拗入. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(Cantonese) to take the side of outsiders rather than one's own

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack