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動手動腳

简动手动脚 · 繁動手動腳

Mandarin · pinyin dòng shǒu dòng jiǎo

to come to blows
to paw
to grope
to get fresh

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Characters in this entry

動: dòng · move, happen; movement, action
手: shǒu · hand
腳: jiǎo · foot; base, leg, foundation
动: dòng · move, happen; movement, action
脚: jiǎo · leg, foot; base, leg, foundation

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–4–3 · dong4 shou3 dong4 jiao3

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

動手動腳 · find source passages ↗ · 动手动脚 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to come to blows
(idiomatic) to take liberties (with women)

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

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