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拖家帶口

简拖家带口 · 繁拖家帶口

Mandarin · pinyin tuō jiā dài kǒu

(idiom) to take one's whole family along; to have a family in tow; to be tied down by family obligations

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Characters in this entry

拖: tuō · drag, tow, haul; delay, prolong
家: jiā · house, home, residence; family
帶: Look up this written character
口: kǒu · mouth; open end; entrance, gate
带: dài · belt, girdle, band, strap, zone

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–3 · tuo1 jia1 dai4 kou3

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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.

拖家帶口 · find source passages ↗ · 拖家带口 · find source passages ↗

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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) dragged down by having a family to feed; to bring along one's large family

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

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