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隔牆有耳

简隔墙有耳 · 繁隔牆有耳

Mandarin · pinyin gé qiáng yǒu ěr

the walls have ears (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

隔: gé · separate, partition
牆: Look up this written character
有: yǒu · have, own, possess; exist
耳: ěr · ear; merely, only; handle; Kangxi radical 128
墙: qiáng · wall

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–3–3 · ge2 qiang2 you3 er3

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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.

隔牆有耳 · find source passages ↗ · 隔墙有耳 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gaak3 coeng4 jau5 ji5

Cantonese word readings for 隔牆有耳. 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) walls have ears

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

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