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插不上手

Mandarin · pinyin chā bu shàng shǒu

to be unable to intervene

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Characters in this entry

插: chā · insert, stick into; plant
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
上: shàng · top; superior, highest; go up, send up
手: shǒu · hand

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

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Mandarin tones

1–5–4–3 · cha1 bu5 shang4 shou3

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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

caap3 bat1 soeng5 sau2

Cantonese word readings for 插不上手. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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