碰一鼻子灰

1. • lit. to have one's nose rubbed in the dirt
2. • fig. to meet with a sharp rebuff

Character by character

• 碰(pèng)touch
• 一(yī)one
• 鼻(bí)nose
• 子(zi)noun suffix, as in 椅子 yǐzi "chair"
• 灰(huī)ash