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開小差

简开小差 · 繁開小差

Mandarin · pinyin kāi xiǎo chāi

to be absent-minded
to desert
to abscond from the army
absent without leave (AWOL)

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Characters in this entry

開: kāi · open; initiate, begin, start
小: xiǎo · small, tiny, insignificant
差: chà · chā · to differ; different, wrong; nearly, almost; an officer
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

1–3–1 · kai1 xiao3 chai1

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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.

開小差 · find source passages ↗ · 开小差 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

verb

(military, of soldiers) to desert; to abscond from the army
(figurative) to be absent-minded; to slack off

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

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