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火上浇油

huǒ shàng jiāo yóudictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
to pour oil on the fire (idiom) / fig. to aggravate a situation / to enrage people and make matters worse
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-619f06c94d5d3d0d. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

火上澆油 火上浇油 [huo3 shang4 jiao1 you2] /to pour oil on the fire (idiom); fig. to aggravate a situation/to enrage people and make matters worse/

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: 火上澆油

  • 火
    huǒ

    fire / urgent / ammunition / fiery or flaming / internal heat (Chinese medicine) / hot (popular) / classifier for military units (old) / Kangxi radical 86

    Huǒ

    surname Huo

  • 上
    shǎng

    used in 上聲|上声[shǎng shēng]

    shàng

    (bound form) up / upper / above / previous / first (of multiple parts) / to climb / to get onto / to go up / to attend (class or university) / (directional complement) up / (noun suffix) on / above

  • 浇
    jiāo

    to pour liquid / to irrigate (using waterwheel) / to water / to cast (molten metal) / to mold

  • 油
    yóu

    oil / fat / grease / petroleum / to apply tung oil, paint or varnish / oily / greasy / glib / cunning

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.