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擦槍走火

简擦枪走火 · 繁擦槍走火

Mandarin · pinyin cā qiāng zǒu huǒ

to shoot accidentally while polishing a gun
(fig.) a minor incident that sparks a war

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Characters in this entry

擦: cā · wipe, scrub, rub, scour; brush
槍: Look up this written character
走: zǒu · walk, go on foot; run; leave; Kangxi radical 156
火: huǒ · fire, flame; burn; anger, rage
枪: qiāng · spear, lance; gun, rifle

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–3–3 · ca1 qiang1 zou3 huo3

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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.

擦槍走火 · find source passages ↗ · 擦枪走火 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

caat3 coeng1 zau2 fo2

Cantonese word readings for 擦槍走火. 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 shoot accidentally while polishing a gun
(idiomatic) to have unintended (and serious) consequences; a minor incident sparks a war
(idiomatic) to result in unintended pregnancy; to have unintended sex

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

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