DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

頭痛醫頭，腳痛醫腳

简头痛医头，脚痛医脚 · 繁頭痛醫頭，腳痛醫腳

Mandarin · pinyin tóu tòng yī tóu , jiǎo tòng yī jiǎo

to treat the symptoms rather than getting to the root of the problem (proverb)
reactive (rather than proactive)

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Characters in this entry

頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
痛: tòng · pain, ache; sorry, sad; bitter
醫: Look up this written character
腳: jiǎo · foot; base, leg, foundation
头: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
医: yī · cure, heal; doctor, medical
脚: jiǎo · leg, foot; base, leg, foundation

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

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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.

頭痛醫頭，腳痛醫腳 · find source passages ↗ · 头痛医头，脚痛医脚 · find source passages ↗

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