竹馬

简 竹马 · 繁 竹馬
Mandarin · pinyin zhú mǎ

Meanings

  1. bamboo stick used as a toy horse
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Characters in this entry

竹
zhú · bamboo; flute; Kangxi radical 118
馬
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马
mǎ · horse; surname; Kangxi radical 187
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–3 · zhu2 ma3

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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.

竹馬 · find source passages ↗ · 竹马 · find source passages ↗

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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. hobby horse (toy)
  2. hobby horse (toy) — (figurative) male childhood sweetheart
  3. bamboo horse used in folk dance

noun

  1. (Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Taiwanese Hokkien) bamboo shelf on both ends of a bamboo bed to support the bedboard
  2. (Taiwanese Hokkien, derogatory) person who walks with long legs

verb

  1. (Taiwanese Hokkien) to be poisoned by eating the insects inside bamboo (of a cow)

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

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