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好马不吃回头草

hǎo mǎ bù chī huí tóu cǎodictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. a good horse doesn't turn around and graze the same patch again (idiom) / fig. once you've moved on, don't go back again (romantic relationship, job etc) / leave the past behind
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-97705c2e327311f6. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

好馬不吃回頭草 好马不吃回头草 [hao3 ma3 bu4 chi1 hui2 tou2 cao3] /lit. a good horse doesn't turn around and graze the same patch again (idiom)/fig. once you've moved on, don't go back again (romantic relationship, job etc)/leave the past behind/

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: 好馬不吃回頭草

  • 好
    hǎo

    good / appropriate / proper / all right! / (before a verb) easy to / (before a verb) good to / (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so / (verb complement indicating completion) / (of two people) close / on intimate terms / (after a form of address) hello

    hào

    to be fond of / to have a tendency to / to be prone to

  • 马
    mǎ

    horse / CL:匹[pǐ] / horse or cavalry piece in Chinese chess / knight in Western chess

    Mǎ

    surname Ma / abbr. for Malaysia 馬來西亞|马来西亚[Mǎ lái xī yà]

  • 不
    bù

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

  • 吃
    chī

    to eat / to consume / to eat at (a cafeteria etc) / to eradicate / to destroy / to absorb / to suffer (shock, injury, defeat etc)

  • 回
    huí

    to go back / to return / to turn back / to turn around / to reply / to answer / classifier for literary divisions (acts of a play, sections or chapters of a classic book) / classifier for occurrences or times / to curve / to return / to revolve

    Huí

    Hui ethnic group (Chinese Muslims)

  • 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

  • 草
    cǎo

    grass / straw / manuscript / draft (of a document) / careless / rough / CL:棵[kē],撮[zuǒ],株[zhū],根[gēn]

    cào

    See the full entry for source details.

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.