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拉大旗作虎皮

lā dà qí zuò hǔ pídictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. to wave a banner as if it were a tiger skin (idiom) / fig. to borrow sb's prestige / to take the name of a great cause as a shield
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-1c71950c88c4f135. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

拉大旗作虎皮 拉大旗作虎皮 [la1 da4 qi2 zuo4 hu3 pi2] /lit. to wave a banner as if it were a tiger skin (idiom)/fig. to borrow sb's prestige/to take the name of a great cause as a shield/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

  • 拉
    lā

    to pull / to play (a bowed instrument) / to drag / to draw / to chat / (coll.) to empty one's bowels

    lá

    to make a cut in (sth) / to slit / to gash / to slash

    là

    used in 拉拉蛄[là là gǔ]

  • 大
    dà

    big / large / great / older (than another person) / eldest (as in 大姐[dà jiě]) / greatly / freely / fully / (dialect) father / (dialect) uncle (father's brother)

    dài

    see 大夫[dài fu]

  • 旗
    qí

    flag / banner / (in Qing times) Manchu (cf. 八旗[Bā qí]) / administrative subdivision in inner Mongolia equivalent to 縣|县[xiàn] county / CL:面[miàn]

  • 作
    zuō

    (bound form) worker / (bound form) workshop / (slang) troublesome / high-maintenance (person)

    zuò

    to do / to engage in / to write / to compose / to pretend / to feign / to regard as / to consider to be / to be / to act the part of / to feel (itchy, nauseous etc) / writings / works

  • 虎
    hǔ

    tiger / CL:隻|只[zhī]

  • 皮
    pí

    skin / peel / rind / outer layer / leather / hide / fur / cover / wrapping / outer covering / (of food) no longer crisp / soggy / (coll.) naughty / mischievous / pico- (10⁻¹²)

    Pí

    surname Pi

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.