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洗耳恭聽

简洗耳恭听 · 繁洗耳恭聽

Mandarin · pinyin xǐ ěr gōng tīng

to listen with respectful attention
(a polite request to sb to speak)
we are all ears

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Characters in this entry

洗: xǐ · wash, rinse; clean, purify
耳: ěr · ear; merely, only; handle; Kangxi radical 128
恭: gōng · respectful, polite, reverent
聽: tīng · hear, listen; understand; obey
听: tīng · hear; understand; obey, comply

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–1–1 · xi3 er3 gong1 ting1

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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.

洗耳恭聽 · find source passages ↗ · 洗耳恭听 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sai2 ji5 gung1 ting3

Cantonese word readings for 洗耳恭聽. 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.

phrase

(idiomatic) to listen with respectful attention; to be all ears

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

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