lit. to be confined within a circle drawn on the ground (idiom); fig. to confine oneself to a restricted range of activities
trad. 畫地為牢
Also written 畫地為牢【huà dì wéi láo】
Characters in this word
4画
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
to draw; to paint, picture; painting (CL:幅[fu2],張|张[zhang1]), to draw (a line) (variant of 劃|划[hua4]), stroke of a Chinese character (variant of 劃|划[hua4]), (calligraphy) horizontal stroke (variant of 劃|划[hua4])
- Pinyin
- huà
- Traditional
- 畫
- Strokes
- 8
- Frequency
- 1144 of 2500
地
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
-ly, structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct
- Pinyin
- de
- Strokes
- 6
- Frequency
- 271 of 2500
为
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
as (in the capacity of), to take sth as, to act as, to serve as, to behave as, to become, to be, to do, by (in the passive voice)
- Pinyin
- wéi
- Traditional
- 為
- Strokes
- 4
- Frequency
- 129 of 2500
牢
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
(literary) pen; fold (for livestock), prison; jail, firm; secure; fast
- Pinyin
- láo
- Strokes
- 7
- Frequency
- 8644 of 2500