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掃除

简扫除 · 繁掃除

Mandarin · pinyin sǎo chú

to clean; to clean up
to eliminate; to wipe out

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Characters in this entry

掃: sǎo · sweep, clear away; exterminate
除: chú · eliminate, remove, except
扫: sǎo · sweep, clear away; exterminate

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2 · sao3 chu2

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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.

掃除 · find source passages ↗ · 扫除 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sou3 ceoi4

Cantonese word readings for 掃除. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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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.

verb

to clear away; to sweep away; to clean with a brush
(figurative) to eradicate; to wipe out

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack