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玩火自焚

Mandarin · pinyin wán huǒ zì fén

to play with fire and get burnt (idiom); fig. to play with evil and suffer the consequences
to get one's fingers burnt

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Characters in this entry

玩: wán · play with, joke, enjoy
火: huǒ · fire, flame; burn; anger, rage
自: zì · self, private, personal; from; Kangxi radical 132
焚: fén · burn

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Mandarin tones

2–3–4–2 · wan2 huo3 zi4 fen2

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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) he who plays with fire will get burnt; sow the wind, reap the whirlwind

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

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