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高抬貴手

简高抬贵手 · 繁高抬貴手

Mandarin · pinyin gāo tái guì shǒu

to be generous (idiom)
to be magnanimous
Give me a break!

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Characters in this entry

高: gāo · high, tall; lofty, elevated; Kangxi radical 189
抬: tái · lift, carry
貴: Look up this written character
手: shǒu · hand
贵: guì · expensive, costly, valuable

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–4–3 · gao1 tai2 gui4 shou3

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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.

高抬貴手 · find source passages ↗ · 高抬贵手 · find source passages ↗

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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) An expression for requesting forgiveness or accommodation: to be generous; to be magnanimous; (ironic) give me a break

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

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