xián​huán

to repay a kindness

  • created sense approved 衔环/銜環 · xián​huán · to repay a kindness — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    衔环 / 銜環

    xián​huán

    to repay a kindness

    (literary) to show gratitude or repay a debt of kindness; based on a legend where a rescued bird returned with four white rings to reward its savior. Often used in the phrase [[衔环结草|銜環結草|xian2 huan2 jie2 cao3]]

    衔, 环

    衔 (literal) → 衔/銜 · xián · to hold in the mouth 环 (literal) → 环/環 · huán · ring

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense