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橋頭堡

简桥头堡 · 繁橋頭堡

Mandarin · pinyin qiáo tóu bǎo

bridgehead (military)
stronghold serving as a base for advancing further into enemy territory
bridge tower (ornamental structure at either end of a bridge)
(fig.) gateway (place that provides access to other places beyond it)
bridgehead (key location serving as a base for further expansion)

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Characters in this entry

橋: qiáo · bridge; beam, crosspiece
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
堡: bǎo · fort, fortress; town, village
桥: qiáo · bridge; beam, crosspiece
头: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–3 · qiao2 tou2 bao3

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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.

橋頭堡 · find source passages ↗ · 桥头堡 · find source passages ↗

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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

(military) bridgehead (an area of ground on the enemy's side of a bridge)

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

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