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眉來眼去

简眉来眼去 · 繁眉來眼去

Mandarin · pinyin méi lái yǎn qù

(idiom) to make eyes; to exchange flirting glances with sb

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Characters in this entry

眉: méi · eyebrows; upper margin of book
來: lái · come, coming; return, returning
眼: yǎn · eye; eyelet, hole, opening
去: qù · go away, leave, depart
来: lái · come, coming; return, returning

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–3–4 · mei2 lai2 yan3 qu4

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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.

眉來眼去 · find source passages ↗ · 眉来眼去 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

mei4 loi4 ngaan5 heoi3

Cantonese word readings for 眉來眼去. 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 make eyes at each other; to flirt with each other

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

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