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網開三面

简网开三面 · 繁網開三面

Mandarin · pinyin wǎng kāi sān miàn

to leave the net open on three sides (idiom); let the caged bird fly
to give one's opponent a way out
lenient treatment

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Characters in this entry

網: Look up this written character
開: kāi · open; initiate, begin, start
三: sān · three
面: miàn · face; surface; plane; side, dimension; Kangxi radical 176
网: wǎng · net; network; Kangxi radical 122
开: kāi · open; initiate, begin, start

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

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Mandarin tones

3–1–1–4 · wang3 kai1 san1 mian4

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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.

網開三面 · find source passages ↗ · 网开三面 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

mong5 hoi1 saam1 min6

Cantonese word readings for 網開三面. 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

(now less common) to give the wrongdoer a way out; to be lenient

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

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