DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

探

Mandarin · pinyin tàn

to explore
to search out
to scout
to visit
to stretch forward

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Characters in this entry

探: tàn · find, locate; search, grope for

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

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Mandarin tones

4 · tan4

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Connected dictionary

1character link9same-tone records

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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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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

taam1 · taam3

Cantonese word readings for 探. 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.

character

to reach for; to grope for
to find; to locate
to search; to explore
to inquire
to visit
to scout; to spy
spy
to try
to extend; to stretch out

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

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