斬腳趾避沙蟲
简 斩脚趾避沙虫 · 繁 斬腳趾避沙蟲Meanings
- a metaphor for going through excessive and drastic measures unnecessarily in order to avoid a small problem; literally 'cut off one's toes to avoid sandworms'; palliative; something that treats the symptom but not the underlying problem
About these definitions
Source definition segments, in their original order. Characters a definition cites are shown without their Mandarin pinyin; classifier lists that CC-Canto copied from CC-CEDICT are marked Mandarin. The community dictionary is not independently verified by zimai.
Reading & tones
Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.
Same syllable, six tones
Characters whose customary Unihan reading (kCantonese) is this syllable in each tone, chosen as in the tone atlas (2013 standard level, then the number of CC-CEDICT words they form), with CC-Canto 2017's meaning for that reading; a dash means no catalogue character has that reading. Checked syllables (-p, -t, -k) normally carry tones 1, 3 and 6. Character readings, not word readings; no frequency implied.
Written characters
Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.
Mandarin comparison · separate source entries
CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: zhan3 jiao3 zhi3 bi4 sha1 chong2. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.
Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 2 Cantonese readings
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
zaam2 goek3 zi2 bei6 saa1 cung2 · zaam2 goek3 zi2 bei6 saa1 cung4
Cantonese word readings for 斬腳趾避沙蟲. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
phrase
- (Cantonese) to inappropriately solve a problem by eliminating something essential
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack