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因噎废食

yīn yē fèi shídictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. not eating for fear of choking (idiom) / fig. to cut off one's nose to spite one's face / to avoid sth essential because of a slight risk
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-f89941a2628d3fd8. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

因噎廢食 因噎废食 [yin1 ye1 fei4 shi2] /lit. not eating for fear of choking (idiom); fig. to cut off one's nose to spite one's face/to avoid sth essential because of a slight risk/

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: 因噎廢食

  • 因
    yīn

    cause / reason / because

  • 噎
    yē

    to choke (on) / to choke up / to suffocate

  • 废
    fèi

    to abolish / to abandon / to abrogate / to discard / to depose / to oust / crippled / abandoned / waste / disabled

  • 食
    shí

    to eat / food / animal feed / eclipse

    sì

    to feed (a person or animal)

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.