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擦邊球

简擦边球 · 繁擦邊球

Mandarin · pinyin cā biān qiú

(table tennis) edge ball
(fig.) actions that are technically legal but perhaps not respectable

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Characters in this entry

擦: cā · wipe, scrub, rub, scour; brush
邊: Look up this written character
球: qiú · ball, sphere, globe; round
边: biān · edge, margin, side, border

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–2 · ca1 bian1 qiu2

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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.

擦邊球 · find source passages ↗ · 擦边球 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 4 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

caat3 bin1 kau4

Cantonese word readings for 擦邊球. 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.

noun

(sports) edge ball; touch ball
(figurative) things on the border line of legality or acceptability

verb

(sports) to hit a ball or shuttlecock on the sideline
(figurative) to skirt the line legally or morally

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

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