咬文嚼字 yǎo wén jiáo zì 🔊 to bite words and chew characters (idiom) + Keep this word Meanings yǎo wén jiáo zì to bite words and chew characters (idiom); punctilious about minutiae of wording Its characters 咬yǎoto biteHSK 5文wénlanguageHSK 7–9嚼jiáoto chewHSK 7–9字zìcharacter; wordHSK 1