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拔萃

Mandarin · pinyin bá cuì

to distinguish oneself; to be of outstanding talent

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Characters in this entry

拔: bá · uproot, pull out
萃: cuì · dense, thick, close-set; to collect together; hexagram ䷬

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4 · ba2 cui4

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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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

verb

(literary) to stand out from one's fellows; to be outstanding

noun

(historical) traditional high-level examination for official candidacy

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

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