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吹毛求疵

chuī máo qiú cīdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. to blow apart the hairs upon a fur to discover any defect (idiom) / fig. to be fastidious / nitpick
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-65f26884493cfca6. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

吹毛求疵 吹毛求疵 [chui1 mao2 qiu2 ci1] /lit. to blow apart the hairs upon a fur to discover any defect (idiom); fig. to be fastidious/nitpick/

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.

  • 吹
    chuī

    to blow / to play a wind instrument / to blast / to puff / to boast / to brag / to end in failure / to fall through

  • 毛
    máo

    hair / feather / down / wool / mildew / mold / coarse or semifinished / young / raw / careless / unthinking / nervous / scared / (of currency) to devalue or depreciate / classifier for Chinese fractional monetary unit ( = 角[jiǎo] , = one-tenth of a yuan or 10 fen 分[fēn])

    Máo

    surname Mao

  • 求
    qiú

    to seek / to look for / to request / to demand / to beseech

  • 疵
    cī

    blemish / flaw / defect

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.