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掏腰包

Mandarin · pinyin tāo yāo bāo

to dip into one's pocket; to pay out of pocket; to foot the bill

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Characters in this entry

掏: tāo · take out; pull out; clean out
腰: yāo · waist; kidney
包: bāo · wrap, pack, bundle; package

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–1 · tao1 yao1 bao1

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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

(verb-object) to pay out of pocket
(verb-object) to steal from people’s pockets; to pickpocket; to pilfer

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

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