The New Dictionary.
Search dictionary
Chinese/Dictionary entry

哪壶不开提哪壶

nǎ hú bù kāi tí nǎ húdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. mention the pot that doesn't boil (idiom) / to touch a sore spot / to talk about sb's weak point
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-3a854627c2c51009. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

哪壺不開提哪壺 哪壶不开提哪壶 [na3 hu2 bu4 kai1 ti2 na3 hu2] /lit. mention the pot that doesn't boil (idiom); to touch a sore spot/to talk about sb's weak point/

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.

Other forms in these source records: 哪壺不開提哪壺

  • 哪
    nǎ

    how / which

    na

    (emphatic sentence-final particle, used instead of 啊[a] after a word ending in "n")

    né

    used in 哪吒[Né zhā] / Taiwan pr. [nuó]

    něi

    which? (interrogative, followed by classifier or numeral-classifier)

  • 壶
    hú

    pot / classifier for bottled liquid

  • 不
    bù

    no / not so / (bound form) not / un-

  • 开
    kāi

    to open (transitive or intransitive) / (of ships, vehicles, troops etc) to start / to turn on / to put in operation / to operate / to run / to boil / to write out (a prescription, check, invoice etc) / (directional complement) away / off / carat (gold) / abbr. for Kelvin, 開爾文|开尔文[Kāi ěr wén] / abbr. for 開本|开本[kāi běn], book format

  • 提
    dī

    used in 提防[dī fang] and 提溜[dī liu]

    tí

    to carry (hanging down from the hand) / to lift / to put forward / to mention / to raise (an issue) / upwards character stroke / lifting brush stroke (in painting) / scoop for measuring liquid

  • 哪
    nǎ

    how / which

    na

    (emphatic sentence-final particle, used instead of 啊[a] after a word ending in "n")

    né

    used in 哪吒[Né zhā] / Taiwan pr. [nuó]

    něi

    which? (interrogative, followed by classifier or numeral-classifier)

  • 壶
    hú

    pot / classifier for bottled liquid

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.