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拈花惹草

Mandarin · pinyin niān huā rě cǎo

lit. to pick the flowers and trample the grass (idiom)
fig. to womanize
to frequent brothels
to sow one's wild oats

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Characters in this entry

拈: niān · pick up with fingers; draw lots
花: huā · flower; blossoms
惹: rě · irritate, vex, offend, incite
草: cǎo · grass, straw, thatch, herbs

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–3–3 · nian1 hua1 re3 cao3

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

nim1 faa1 je5 cou2

Cantonese word readings for 拈花惹草. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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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 dally with women; to philander

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

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