DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

打抱不平

Mandarin · pinyin dǎ bào bù píng

(idiom) to aid sb suffering an injustice; to fight for justice

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Characters in this entry

打: dǎ · strike, hit, beat; fight; attack
抱: bào · embrace, hold in arms, enfold
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
平: píng · flat, level, even; peaceful

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–4–2 · da3 bao4 bu4 ping2

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to take up the cudgels for the injured party; to defend somebody against an injustice

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

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