因噎废食

Traditional: 因噎廢食

yīn yē fèi shí

Dictionary entry

lit. not eating for fear of choking (idiom); fig. to cut off one's nose to spite one's face

What does 因噎废食 mean?

因噎废食 (yīn yē fèi shí) has the following dictionary meaning.

1lit. not eating for fear of choking (idiom); fig. to cut off one's nose to spite one's face

2to avoid sth essential because of a slight risk

Character breakdown

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因yīnold variant of 因[yin1]噎yēto choke (on) · to choke up 废fèito abolish · to abandon 食shíto eat · food

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How to pronounce 因噎废食

因噎废食

yīn yē fèi shí

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Base dictionary data: CC-CEDICT · CC BY-SA 4.0.