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扮豬吃老虎

简扮猪吃老虎 · 繁扮豬吃老虎

Mandarin · pinyin bàn zhū chī lǎo hǔ

to play the wolf in sheep's clothing; to disguise oneself as sth harmless in order to lull one's target into letting their guard down

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Characters in this entry

扮: bàn · dress up; dress up as
豬: zhū · pig, hog
吃: chī · eat; drink; suffer, endure, bear
老: lǎo · old, aged; experienced; Kangxi radical 125
虎: hǔ · tiger; brave, fierce; surname
猪: zhū · pig, hog, wild boar

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–1–3–3 · ban4 zhu1 chi1 lao3 hu3

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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.

扮豬吃老虎 · find source passages ↗ · 扮猪吃老虎 · find source passages ↗

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to play dumb to take advantage of someone

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

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