挑事

tiǎoshì

to stir up trouble; to provoke; to rock the boat

Wiktionary

Entry Composition

=1 挑 tiāo
  1. to carry on a shoulder pole
  2. to choose
  3. to pick
  4. to nitpick
=1 挑 tiǎo
  1. to raise
  2. to dig up
  3. to poke
  4. to prick
  5. to incite
  6. to stir up
=1 挑 tāo only used in 挑達／挑达 (tāotà, “walking back and forth; coming and going”)
=2 事 shì
  1. matter
  2. thing
  3. item
  4. work
  5. affair

classifiers: 件, 樁, 回
=2 事 zì
  1. alternative form of 倳 (zì, “to establish”)
  2. alternative form of 剚 (zì, “to stab”)