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首屈一指

Mandarin · pinyin shǒu qū yī zhǐ

to count as number one (idiom); second to none
outstanding

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Characters in this entry

首: shǒu · head; first; leader, chief; a poem; Kangxi radical 185
屈: qū · bend, flex; bent, crooked; crouch
一: yī · one; a, an; alone
指: zhǐ · finger, toe; point, indicate

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

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Mandarin tones

3–1–1–3 · shou3 qu1 yi1 zhi3

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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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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sau2 wat1 jat1 zi2

Cantonese word readings for 首屈一指. 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) first
(idiomatic) number one; come first on the list; be matchless; be second to none; come out first; thumbs up

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

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