把
Meanings · baa2
- to hold
- to contain
- to grasp
- to take hold of
- handle
- particle marking the following noun as a direct object
- classifier for objects with handle
- classifier for small objects: handful
- to guard
- to hold in place
- sworn brotherhood
Meanings · baa3
- to hold
- to contain
- to grasp
- to take hold of
- handle
- particle marking the following noun as a direct object
- classifier for objects with handle
- classifier for small objects: handful
- to guard
- to hold in place
- sworn brotherhood
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.
Reading & tones
Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.
Same syllable, six tones
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.
Written characters
Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.
Mandarin comparison · separate source entries
CC-CEDICT, the Mandarin–English dictionary, lists the same written form:
- 把 bǎ CC-CEDICT · Mandarinto hold; to grasp; to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate; handlebar; classifier: handful, bundle, bunch; classifier for things with handles; (used to put the object before the verb: 把 bǎ + {noun} + {verb})
- 把 bà CC-CEDICT · Mandarinhandle
A separate source entry, shown for comparison. The same characters can carry different senses in Mandarin and in Cantonese; zimai does not align these senses.
CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: ba3. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.
Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 25 senses · 2 Cantonese readings
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
baa2 · baa3
Cantonese word readings for 把. 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.
character
- to hold; to grasp; to take
- to control; to dominate
- to guard; to have control over
- (colloquial) to be close; to be near
- to hold a baby while it relieves itself
- (traditional Chinese medicine) to feel (for the pulse)
- A light verb or preposition placed before the object of a sentence to allow it to be placed before the verb, giving greater flexibility in complex sentence construction.
- Used before a “subject + verb + complement” structure; to cause to; to make
- bundle; bunch
- handle; knob; grip (a part of an object which is held in the hand)
- stem (of a flower, leaf, fruit, etc.)
- Classifier for objects that can be held using handles or knobs, such as guns, chairs, brooms, or umbrellas. ⇒ all nouns using this classifier
- Classifier for handfuls of something, such as grains, soil.
- Classifier for bundles or bunches.
- Classifier for fire.
- Classifier for some abstract ideas, such as force, effort or age.
- Classifier for something done with the hand.
- Classifier for times of recreations.
- (Xiamen and Quanzhou Hokkien) Classifier for wheeled vehicles.
- Placed after numerals or classifiers to express uncertainty; approximately
- (archaic or dialectal Mandarin, Gan, Xiang) to give
- (Xiang) to; with (following verbs to indicate the handing over or passing of something)
- a surname
character
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 爬 (pá, “to scratch”)
- a surname
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack