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造茧自缚

zào jiǎn zì fù

4-character word Traditional 造繭自縛

What 造茧自缚 means

1. to spin a cocoon around oneself (idiom); enmeshed in a trap of one's own devising
2. hoist with his own petard

The characters in 造茧自缚

• 造zàoto make; to build; to manufacture
• 茧jiǎn(bound form) cocoon; (bound form) callus (variant of 趼
• 自zì(bound form) self; oneself; from; since; naturally; as a matter of course
• 缚fùto bind; to tie; Taiwan pr. fú

Go deeper

• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read zào jiǎn zì fù correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.