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牙子

Mandarin · pinyin yá zi

serrated edge
(old) middleman
broker

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Characters in this entry

牙: yá · tooth, molars, teeth; serrated
子: zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch

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

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Mandarin tones

2–5 · ya2 zi5

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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 · 4 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

tooth (protruding outer edge of an object)
(archaic) middleman; go-between; intermediary; mediator
(dialectal Mandarin, Wu) tooth
(Xuzhou Mandarin) bangs; fringe

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

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