照 葫 芦 画 瓢

zhào hú lu huà piáodictionary entry

lit. to draw a dipper with a gourd as a model (idiom) / fig. to copy slavishly

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-9dda6a1f8a868582. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

照葫蘆畫瓢 照葫芦画瓢 [zhao4 hu2 lu5 hua4 piao2] /lit. to draw a dipper with a gourd as a model (idiom)/fig. to copy slavishly/

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: 照葫蘆畫瓢

照
zhào
to shine / to illuminate / according to / in accordance with / to reflect / to look at (one's reflection) / to take (a photo) / photo / as requested / as before
葫
hú
used in 葫蘆|葫芦[hú lu]
芦
lú
(bound form) reed
画
huà
to draw / to paint / picture / painting (CL:幅[fú],張|张[zhāng]) / to draw (a line) (variant of 劃|划[huà]) / stroke of a Chinese character (variant of 劃|划[huà]) / (calligraphy) horizontal stroke (variant of 劃|划[huà])
瓢
piáo
dipper / ladle

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.