水袖

Mandarin · pinyin shuǐ xiù

Meanings

  1. flowing sleeves (part of theatrical costume)
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Characters in this entry

水
shuǐ · water, liquid, lotion, juice
袖
xiù · sleeve; put something in sleeve
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–4 · shui3 xiu4

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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 Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

seoi2 zau6

Cantonese word readings for 水袖. 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

  1. (opera) water sleeves (white silk extensions to the cuff of sleeves in costumes)
  2. (swimming) water wing; armfloat; armband

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

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