小懲大誡 xiǎo chéng dà jiè

small punishment as warning; minor penalty

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. lit. to punish a little to prevent a lot (idiom); to criticize former mistakes firmly to prevent large scale repetition

Characters

Character Meaning
small; young; tiny
to punish; to reprimand; to warn
big; large; great
to prohibit; commandment