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梟首示眾

简枭首示众 · 繁梟首示眾

Mandarin · pinyin xiāo shǒu shì zhòng

to behead sb and display the head in public

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Characters in this entry

梟: Look up this written character
首: shǒu · head; first; leader, chief; a poem; Kangxi radical 185
示: shì · show, manifest; demonstrate; Kangxi radical 113
眾: Look up this written character
枭: xiāo · an owl ; ill-omen
众: zhòng · multitude, crowd; masses, public

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

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Mandarin tones

1–3–4–4 · xiao1 shou3 shi4 zhong4

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to behead somebody and display the head in public; to cut of a person's head and hang it up as a warning to all

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

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