繞來繞去

简 绕来绕去 · 繁 繞來繞去
Mandarin · pinyin rào lái rào qù

Meanings

  1. meandering and circuitous (idiom); to go around in circles and never get anywhere
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Characters in this entry

繞
Look up this written character
來
lái · come, coming; return, returning
去
qù · go away, leave, depart
绕
rào · entwine; wind around; surround
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

4–2–4–4 · rao4 lai2 rao4 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.

繞來繞去 · find source passages ↗ · 绕来绕去 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Rime

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jiu5 loi4 jiu5 heoi3

Cantonese word readings for 繞來繞去. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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

繞來繞去 · rao4 lai2 rao4 qu4
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 87,224
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record繞來繞去 绕来绕去 [rao4 lai2 rao4 qu4] /meandering and circuitous (idiom); to go around in circles and never get anywhere/