擘

Mandarin · pinyin bò

Meanings

  1. thumb
  2. to break
  3. to tear
  4. to pierce
  5. to split
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Characters in this entry

擘
bò · thumb; break, tear open, rip
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4 · bo4

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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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Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

baai1 · maak3

Cantonese word readings for 擘. 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 · Etymology 1

  1. (literary) thumb
  2. (literary, figurative) outstanding person
  3. (literary or dialectal) to split; to break; to tear (with one's fingers)
  4. (literary or dialectal) to open; to spread

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

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