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上下

shàng xiàdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
the top and bottom of sth / the full vertical extent of sth / from top to bottom / to go up and down / before and after (as in 上下文[shàng xià wén] "context") / (used after a quantity) approximately / ... or so / (in a social hierarchy) the high and the low / seniors and juniors (as in 上下和睦[shàng xià hé mù] "harmony between superiors and subordinates") / all members of a group (as in 舉國上下|举国上下[jǔ guó shàng xià] "the entire nation") / relative superiority (as in 不相上下[bù xiāng shàng xià] "evenly matched")
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-2e86b0fe73923c83. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

上下 上下 [shang4 xia4] /the top and bottom of sth/the full vertical extent of sth; from top to bottom/to go up and down/before and after (as in 上下文[shang4 xia4 wen2] "context")/(used after a quantity) approximately; ... or so/(in a social hierarchy) the high and the low; seniors and juniors (as in 上下和睦[shang4 xia4 he2 mu4] "harmony between superiors and subordinates")/all members of a group (as in 舉國上下|举国上下[ju3 guo2 shang4 xia4] "the entire nation")/relative superiority (as in 不相上下[bu4 xiang1 shang4 xia4] "evenly matched")/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

  • 上
    shǎng

    used in 上聲|上声[shǎng shēng]

    shàng

    (bound form) up / upper / above / previous / first (of multiple parts) / to climb / to get onto / to go up / to attend (class or university) / (directional complement) up / (noun suffix) on / above

  • 下
    xià

    down / downwards / below / lower / later / next (week etc) / second (of two parts) / to decline / to go down / to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc) / measure word to show the frequency of an action

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.