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風吹草動

简风吹草动 · 繁風吹草動

Mandarin · pinyin fēng chuī cǎo dòng

(lit.) grass stirring in the wind (idiom)
(fig.) the slightest whiff of trouble

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Characters in this entry

風: fēng · wind; air; manners, atmosphere; Kangxi radical 182
吹: chuī · blow; puff; brag, boast
草: cǎo · grass, straw, thatch, herbs
動: dòng · move, happen; movement, action
风: fēng · wind; air; manners, atmosphere
动: dòng · move, happen; movement, action

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–3–4 · feng1 chui1 cao3 dong4

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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.

風吹草動 · find source passages ↗ · 风吹草动 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

fung1 ceoi1 cou2 dung6

Cantonese word readings for 風吹草動. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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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) tiny movements and changes

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

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