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捕風捉影

简捕风捉影 · 繁捕風捉影

Mandarin · pinyin bǔ fēng zhuō yǐng

lit. chasing the wind and clutching at shadows (idiom); fig. groundless accusations
to act on hearsay evidence

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Characters in this entry

捕: bǔ · arrest, catch, seize
風: fēng · wind; air; manners, atmosphere; Kangxi radical 182
捉: zhuō · grasp, clutch; catch, seize
影: yǐng · shadow; image, reflection; photograph
风: fēng · wind; air; manners, atmosphere

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

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Mandarin tones

3–1–1–3 · bu3 feng1 zhuo1 ying3

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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.

捕風捉影 · find source passages ↗ · 捕风捉影 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bou6 fung1 zuk1 jing2

Cantonese word readings for 捕風捉影. 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 make groundless accusations; to grasp at straws

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

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