溜 须 拍 马

liūxūpāimǎ

to smooth whiskers and pat a horse's bottom (idiom); to use flatter to get what one wants; to toady

Traditional 溜鬚拍馬

Meaning

liūxūpāimǎliu1 xu1 pai1 ma3

to smooth whiskers and pat a horse's bottom (idiom); to use flatter to get what one wants
to toady
boot-licking

13 strokes

9 strokes

8 strokes

3 strokes

liū · to slip, to slide, to glide; slippery

Radical 氵 · 13 strokes · Parts 氵留

Pictophonetic: water

xū · beard; must; necessary

Radical 彡 · 9 strokes · Parts 彡页

Ideographic: Hair 彡 growing on the face 页

pāi · to clap, to tap; to hit, to beat, to slap; beat, rhythm

Radical 扌 · 8 strokes · Parts 扌白

Pictophonetic: hand

mǎ · horse; surname

Radical 马 · 3 strokes

Pictographic: Simplified form of 馬, a horse galloping to the left

Glyphs: Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Forms of 須, a traditional form of 须.