磕頭如搗蒜

简 磕头如捣蒜 · 繁 磕頭如搗蒜
Mandarin · pinyin kē tóu rú dǎo suàn

Meanings

  1. (idiom) to kowtow repeatedly and rapidly (esp. when pleading for mercy)
Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

磕
kē · hit; collide, knock into; sound
頭
tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
如
rú · if, supposing; as if; like, as
搗
Look up this written character
蒜
suàn · garlic
头
tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
捣
dǎo · hull; thresh; beat, attack
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–2–2–3–4 · ke1 tou2 ru2 dao3 suan4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

6character links
Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.
磕頭如搗蒜 · ke1 tou2 ru2 dao3 suan4
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 80,139
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record磕頭如搗蒜 磕头如捣蒜 [ke1 tou2 ru2 dao3 suan4] /(idiom) to kowtow repeatedly and rapidly (esp. when pleading for mercy)/