顺藤摸瓜 (順藤摸瓜)
shùn téng mō guā
Pinyin
Definition
顺藤摸瓜 (順藤摸瓜)
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- lit. to follow the vine to get to the melon
- to track sth following clues
Character Decomposition
Related Words (20)
- 1 idiot
- 2 fool
- 1 to feel with the hand
- 2 to touch
- 3 to stroke
- 4 to grope
- 5 to steal
- 6 to abstract
- 1 papaya (Carica papaya)
- 2 genus Chaenomeles of shrubs in the family Rosaceae
- 3 Chinese flowering quince (Chaenomeles speciosa)
Idioms (17)
丈二和尚,摸不着头脑
- 1 lit. like a three-meter high monk, you can't rub his head (idiom)
- 2 fig. at a total loss
偷鸡摸狗
- 1 to imitate the dog and steal chicken (idiom)
- 2 to pilfer
- 3 to dally with women
- 4 to have affairs
合眼摸象
- 1 to touch an elephant with closed eyes (idiom); to proceed blindly
强扭的瓜不甜
- 1 lit. if you have to use force to break a melon off the vine, it won't taste sweet (because it's only when the melon is ripe that it can be removed with just a slight twist) (idiom)
- 2 fig. if sth is not meant to be, it's no use trying to force it to happen
摸着石头过河
- 1 to wade across the river, feeling for footholds as one goes (idiom)
- 2 to advance cautiously, step by step
- 3 to feel one's way forward