| 老牛舐犊 |
lǎo niú shì dú |
lit. an old ox licking its calf (idiom) / fig. (of parents) to dote on one's children |
| 老 |
lǎo |
prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity / old (of people) / venerable (person) / experienced / of long standing / always / all the time / of the past / very / outdated / (of meat etc) tough |
| 牛 |
Niú |
surname Niu |
| 牛 |
niú |
ox / cow / bull / CL:条,头 / newton (abbr. for 牛顿) / (slang) awesome |
| 舐 |
shì |
to lick / to lap (up) |
| 犊 |
dú |
calf / sacrificial victim |