抽冷子

Mandarin · pinyin chōu lěng zi

Meanings

  1. (coll.) unexpectedly
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Characters in this entry

抽
chōu · draw out, pull out; sprout
冷
lěng · cold, cool; lonely
子
zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–3–5 · chou1 leng3 zi5

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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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