皮開肉綻

简 皮开肉绽 · 繁 皮開肉綻
Mandarin · pinyin pí kāi ròu zhàn

Meanings

  1. flesh lacerated from corporal punishment (idiom)
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Characters in this entry

皮
pí · skin, hide, fur, feather; outer
開
kāi · open; initiate, begin, start
肉
ròu · flesh; meat; Kangxi radical 130
綻
Look up this written character
开
kāi · open; initiate, begin, start
绽
zhàn · ripped seam, rend, crack
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–1–4–4 · pi2 kai1 rou4 zhan4

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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.

皮開肉綻 · find source passages ↗ · 皮开肉绽 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

  1. (idiomatic) to have one's skin torn and cracked as a result of being badly beaten

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

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