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拖人下水

tuō rén xià shuǐdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. to pull sb into the water / fig. to involve sb in a messy business / to get sb into trouble
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-a50ca883313448a2. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

拖人下水 拖人下水 [tuo1 ren2 xia4 shui3] /lit. to pull sb into the water/fig. to involve sb in a messy business/to get sb into trouble/

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.

  • 拖
    tuō

    to drag / to tow / to trail / to hang down / to mop (the floor) / to delay / to drag on

  • 人
  • 下
    xià

    down / downwards / below / lower / later / next (week etc) / second (of two parts) / to decline / to go down / to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc) / measure word to show the frequency of an action

  • 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

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.