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牛不喝水強按頭

简牛不喝水强按头 · 繁牛不喝水強按頭

Mandarin · pinyin niú bù hē shuǐ qiǎng àn tóu

lit. to try to make an ox drink by forcing its head down to the water (idiom)
fig. to try to impose one's will on sb

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Characters in this entry

牛: niú · cow, ox, bull; Kangxi radical 93; 9th lunar mansion, determinative star β Capricorni (Dabih)
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
喝: hē · drink; shout, call out
水: shuǐ · water, liquid, lotion, juice
強: qiáng · strong, powerful, energetic
按: àn · put hand on, press down with hand
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
强: qiáng · strong, powerful, energetic
头: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–1–3–3–4–2 · niu2 bu4 he1 shui3 qiang3 an4 tou2

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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.

牛不喝水強按頭 · find source passages ↗ · 牛不喝水强按头 · find source passages ↗

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