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摇头摆尾

yáo tóu bǎi wěidictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
to nod one's head and wag one's tail (idiom) / to be well pleased with oneself / to have a lighthearted air
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-a2054c92b169c48c. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

搖頭擺尾 摇头摆尾 [yao2 tou2 bai3 wei3] /to nod one's head and wag one's tail (idiom)/to be well pleased with oneself/to have a lighthearted air/

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: 搖頭擺尾

  • 摇
    yáo

    to shake / to rock / to row / to crank

    Yáo

    surname Yao

  • 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

  • 摆
    bǎi

    to arrange / to exhibit / to move to and fro / a pendulum / hem (at the bottom of a garment)

  • 尾
    wěi

    tail / remainder / remnant / extremity / sixth of the 28 constellations / classifier for fish

    yǐ

    horse's tail / pointed posterior section of a locust etc

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.