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龜縮

简龟缩 · 繁龜縮

Mandarin · pinyin guī suō

to withdraw
to hole up

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Characters in this entry

龜: Look up this written character
縮: Look up this written character
龟: guī · turtle or tortoise; cuckold
缩: suō · contract, draw in, reduce

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1 · gui1 suo1

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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

gwai1 suk1

Cantonese word readings for 龜縮. 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.

verb

to huddle up like a turtle drawing in its head and legs; to withdraw into passive defense; to hole up

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

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