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因噎废食

yīn yē fèi shí

4-character word Traditional 因噎廢食

What 因噎废食 means

1. lit. not eating for fear of choking (idiom); fig. to cut off one's nose to spite one's face
2. to avoid sth essential because of a slight risk

The characters in 因噎废食

• 因yīncause; reason; because
• 噎yēto choke (on); to choke up; to suffocate
• 废fèito abolish; to abandon; to abrogate
• 食shíto eat; food; animal feed

Go deeper

• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read yīn yē fèi shí correctly.
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