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關門捉賊

简关门捉贼 · 繁關門捉賊

Mandarin · pinyin guān mén zhuō zéi

to catch a thief by closing his escape route (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

關: Look up this written character
門: mén · gate, door, entrance, opening; Kangxi radical 169
捉: zhuō · grasp, clutch; catch, seize
賊: Look up this written character
关: guān · frontier pass; close; relation
门: mén · gate, door, entrance, opening
贼: zéi · thief, traitor; kill

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–1–2 · guan1 men2 zhuo1 zei2

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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.

關門捉賊 · find source passages ↗ · 关门捉贼 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gwaan1 mun4 zuk3 caak6

Cantonese word readings for 關門捉賊. 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

(figurative) to capture the enemy by cutting off their escape route

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

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