順手牽羊

简 顺手牵羊 · 繁 順手牽羊
Mandarin · pinyin shùn shǒu qiān yáng

Meanings

  1. lit. to lead away a goat while passing by (idiom)
  2. fig. to opportunistically pocket sb's possessions and walk off
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Characters in this entry

順
Look up this written character
手
shǒu · hand
牽
Look up this written character
羊
yáng · sheep, goat; Kangxi radical 123
顺
shùn · obey, submit to, go along with
牵
qiān · drag, pull, lead by hand
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–3–1–2 · shun4 shou3 qian1 yang2

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

seon6 sau2 hin1 joeng4

Cantonese word readings for 順手牽羊. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

seon6 sau2 hin1 joeng4

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

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

  1. (figurative) to steal something under the cover of an emergency; to take advantage of a crisis for personal gain

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

順手牽羊 · shun4 shou3 qian1 yang2
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 118,730
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record順手牽羊 顺手牵羊 [shun4 shou3 qian1 yang2] /lit. to lead away a goat while passing by (idiom)/fig. to opportunistically pocket sb's possessions and walk off/