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虎背熊腰

Mandarin · pinyin hǔ bèi xióng yāo

back of a tiger and waist of a bear
tough and stocky build

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Characters in this entry

虎: hǔ · tiger; brave, fierce; surname
背: bèi · back; back side; behind; betray
熊: xióng · a bear; brilliant; bright; surname
腰: yāo · waist; kidney

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–2–1 · hu3 bei4 xiong2 yao1

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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 · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

fu2 bui3 hung4 jiu1

Cantonese word readings for 虎背熊腰. 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 be of stocky and imposing build

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

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