Cantonese words starting with M

3,025 entries

An ancient sacrificial ritual performed by troops at their camp before going into battle.

To scold, blame, or reprimand.

Intimate, close, or physically near in a relationship.

Inside; the interior of a space or a place far from the open air.

To bury, hide underground, or secretly conceal something.

To ask for and pay the bill, especially after dining at a restaurant.

To join a group, clique, or faction.

To lie in ambush; to hide oneself in preparation to attack.

To dock, come alongside a pier, or go ashore.

maai4 gaai1 jam2 zeng2 seoi2

埋街飲井水埋街饮井水

To get married, especially for a female sex worker or a boat dweller moving to a life on dry land.

maai4 gaai1 sik6 zeng2 seoi2

埋街食井水

To retire from prostitution and settle down, or more broadly, to quit an occupation and start a new life.

To balance the cash register or calculate the daily profit and balance at the end of a workday.

To heal up; for a wound to close and skin over.

To move closer to; used after a verb to indicate direction towards something or someone.

To complain, blame, or express dissatisfaction with someone or something.

To get close to someone, make friends, or get along with them.

To come closer, or as a verb suffix indicating movement toward oneself.

To come closer or approach.

To put livestock into a cage or pen.

To finish something off; to be in the final stages of completing a task.

To bury, or figuratively, to stifle and waste talent.

To engage in close, intense physical combat, or by extension, to have vigorous sex.

To dock, come alongside, or pull in to the shore (of a boat).

To approach or get close to someone.

To start dealing with or tackling a problem.

maai4 sau2 daa2 saam1 gaang1

埋手打三更

To do something completely wrong from the very beginning.

To balance the books; to calculate the total amount of accounts and cash up.

To immerse oneself in, or to be engrossed in a task.

maai4 tau4 fu2 gon3

埋頭苦幹埋头苦干

To bury oneself in work; to work hard and with deep concentration.

maai4 tau4 maai4 nou5

埋頭埋腦埋头埋脑

To immerse oneself deeply in a task with total concentration.

To get into position, take one's place, or get ready to start.

To pull into a station or stop; used of public transport vehicles like buses or trains.

To check in and stay at a hotel.

To get ready at the starting gate before a horse race.

To take one's seat at a banquet or ceremony.

To bury or entomb a deceased person or animal, typically marking the spot with a tombstone.

Endive, or the plant Sonchus brachyotus.

To buy or purchase; to pay money to obtain goods, property, rights, or services.

maai5 baan2 m4 zi1 deng6

買板唔知埞买板唔知埞

An expression warning someone they do not know the danger they are in, literally meaning not knowing where to buy a coffin.

Comprador; a Chinese agent employed by a foreign establishment to manage local trading, translation, and negotiations.

To buy cookies, biscuits, or cakes.

maai5 ceng1 miu4

買青苗买青苗

To profiteer or exploit people in difficult circumstances by buying crops before they are harvested.

maai5 cyun4 zung1

買全鐘买全钟

To pay to take a nightclub hostess out of the venue for the rest of her shift.

To bet on the "big" option in gambling, such as in sic bo or soccer betting.

maai5 daai6 sai3

買大細买大细

To play sic bo (tai-sai), a dice gambling game; to bet on big or small.

To pay the bill; a variant of 埋單 transliterated from Mandarin.

To buy in advance; also used in gambling to refer to a confirmed, irreversible bet.

maai5 ding6 lei4 sau2

買定離手买定离手

A dealer's call in gambling games ordering players to place their final bets and take their hands off the table.

maai5 fu1 zung1

買ｆｕｌｌ鐘买ｆｕｌｌ钟

To pay to take a nightclub hostess out of the venue for the rest of her shift

Buyer; customer; the purchasing party in a transaction.