引玉之砖 in English yin3 yu4 zhi1 zhuan1 Meaning

Meanings

  • literally (word for word) a brick thrown to prompt others to produce a jade (idiomatic expression)
  • metaphorically a modest suggestion intended to prompt others to come forward with better ideas

Simplified Characters

引 玉 之 砖

Traditional Characters

引 玉 之 磚

Pinyin

yin3 yu4 zhi1 zhuan1

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

引yin3to draw (e.g. a bow) 玉yu4jade 之zhi1(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]) 砖zhuan1variant of 甎|砖[zhuan1]