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- (dialect) to savor
- to test the taste of
- (fig.) to ponder upon
- to mull over
- (mahjong) to self-draw the winning tile
- (slang) to play with oneself; to masturbate
- to have a clear view (of a situation)
- to fish for information
- fact-finding
Trad. 摸魚
- to catch fish
- (fig.) to loaf on the job; to be slack; to take it easy
Trad. 摸不著
- can't touch; can't reach
- (fig.) unable to get a grasp of
Trad. 不摸頭
- not acquainted with the situation
- not up on things
Trad. 順藤摸瓜
- lit. to follow the vine to get to the melon
- to track sth following clues
Trad. 眾盲摸象
- multitude of blind people touch an elephant (idiom, from Nirvana sutra 大般涅槃經|大般涅盘经[da4 ban1 Nie4 pan2 jing1]); fig. unable to see the big picture
- to mistake the part for the whole
- unable to see the wood for the trees
Trad. 鬼摸腦殼
- (idiom) muddled; momentarily confused
Trad. 混水摸魚
- to fish in troubled water (idiom); to take advantage of a crisis for personal gain
- also written 渾水摸魚|浑水摸鱼
- to touch an elephant with closed eyes (idiom); to proceed blindly
Trad. 偷雞摸狗
- to imitate the dog and steal chicken (idiom)
- to pilfer
- to dally with women
- to have affairs
Trad. 渾水摸魚
- to fish in troubled water (idiom); to take advantage of a crisis for personal gain
- blind people touch an elephant (idiom, from Nirvana sutra 大般涅槃經|大般涅盘经[da4 ban1 Nie4 pan2 jing1]); fig. unable to see the big picture
- to mistake the part for the whole
- unable to see the wood for the trees
- (idiom) unpredictable; elusive; hard to pin down
Trad. 難以捉摸
- elusive
- hard to pin down
- enigmatic
Trad. 摸爬滾打
- to go through challenging experiences
- to become seasoned (in one's profession etc)
- (idiom) military title said to have existed in the Han dynasty, allegedly granted to officials tasked with retrieving gold from tombs to fund military campaigns; (in popular fiction) tomb raider
- blind people touch an elephant (idiom, from Nirvana sutra 大般涅槃經|大般涅盘经[da4 ban1 Nie4 pan2 jing1]); fig. unable to see the big picture
- to mistake the part for the whole
- unable to see the wood for the trees
Trad. 兩眼一摸黑
- (of sb in an unfamiliar situation) helpless and disoriented
Trad. 摸不著頭腦
- to be unable to make any sense of the matter
- to be at a loss
Trad. 摸石頭過河
- lit. crossing the river by feeling for stones
- improvise by trial-and-error
- move cautiously
Trad. 摸著石頭過河
- to wade across the river, feeling for footholds as one goes (idiom)
- to advance cautiously, step by step
- to feel one's way forward
Trad. 丈二金剛摸不著頭腦
- see 丈二和尚，摸不著頭腦|丈二和尚，摸不着头脑[zhang4 er4 he2 shang5 , mo1 bu5 zhao2 tou2 nao3]
Trad. 丈二和尚，摸不著頭腦
- lit. like a three-meter high monk, you can't rub his head (idiom)
- fig. at a total loss