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牛不喝水强按头

niú bù hē shuǐ qiǎng àn tóudictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. to try to make an ox drink by forcing its head down to the water (idiom) / fig. to try to impose one's will on sb
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-7354205474c8d4d7. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

牛不喝水強按頭 牛不喝水强按头 [niu2 bu4 he1 shui3 qiang3 an4 tou2] /lit. to try to make an ox drink by forcing its head down to the water (idiom)/fig. to try to impose one's will on sb/

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: 牛不喝水強按頭

  • 牛
    niú

    ox / cow / bull / CL:條|条[tiáo],頭|头[tóu] / newton (abbr. for 牛頓|牛顿[niú dùn]) / (slang) awesome

    Niú

    surname Niu

  • 不
    bù

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

  • 喝
    hē

    to drink

    hè

    to shout

  • 水
    shuǐ

    water / (after a name) ... River / to swim (used mostly in 會水|会水[huì shuǐ] and 水性[shuǐ xìng]) / (coll.) lacking in substance / shoddy / (bound form) additional cost / extra income / classifier for washings of a garment

    Shuǐ

    surname Shui / Shui ethnic group

  • 强
    jiàng

    stubborn / unyielding

    qiáng

    strong / powerful / better / slightly more than / vigorous / violent / best in their category, e.g. see 百強|百强[bǎi qiáng]

    qiǎng

    to force / to compel / to strive / to make an effort

    Qiáng

    surname Qiang

  • 按
    àn

    to press / to push / to leave aside or shelve / to control / to restrain / to keep one's hand on / to check or refer to / according to / in the light of / (of an editor or author) to make a comment

  • 头
    tóu

    head / hair style / the top / end / beginning or end / a stub / remnant / chief / boss / side / aspect / first / leading / classifier for pigs or livestock / CL:個|个[gè]

    tou

    suffix for nouns

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.