DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

因噎廢食

简因噎废食 · 繁因噎廢食

Mandarin · pinyin yīn yē fèi shí

lit. not eating for fear of choking (idiom); fig. to cut off one's nose to spite one's face
to avoid sth essential because of a slight risk

Characters in this entry

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

1–1–4–2 · yin1 ye1 fei4 shi2

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

4character links

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

jan1 jit3 fai3 sik6

Cantonese word readings for 因噎廢食. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

jan1 jit3 fai3 sik6

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

(idiomatic) to avoid something essential because of a slight risk of making a mistake