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用

Mandarin · pinyin yòng

Meanings

  1. to use; to make use of; to employ
  2. (coverb) with; using
  3. to need; to have to (usu. used in the negative or in questions)
  4. usefulness; utility
  5. (bound form) expense; outlay
  6. (courteous) to eat; to drink
  7. (literary) hence; therefore
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Characters in this entry

用
yòng · use, employ, apply, operate; use
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4 · yong4

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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 · 10 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jung6

Cantonese word readings for 用. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

character

  1. to use; to employ; to operate
  2. use; utility; usefulness
  3. (honorific) to eat; to drink
  4. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) expenses; outlay
  5. with; by; using
  6. (chiefly used in the negative or interrogative) to need
  7. (literary) therefore
  8. (obsolete) because of; due to; because
  9. a surname
  10. (Cantonese, restaurant, abbreviation) Alternative name for 雲吞麵／云吞面 (wonton noodles).

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

用 · yong4
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 74,707
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record用 用 [yong4] /to use; to make use of; to employ/(coverb) with; using/to need; to have to (usu. used in the negative or in questions)/usefulness; utility/(bound form) expense; outlay/(courteous) to eat; to drink/(literary) hence; therefore/