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白手起家

bái shǒu qǐ jiādictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
(idiom) to build up from nothing / to start from scratch
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-03e31d24a9081cad. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

白手起家 白手起家 [bai2 shou3 qi3 jia1] /(idiom) to build up from nothing; to start from scratch/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

  • 白
    bái

    white / in vain / free of charge / (bound form) (of facts, the truth, a situation) clear / evident (e.g. 真相大白[zhēn xiàng dà bái]) / (bound form) plain / without additions (e.g. 白飯|白饭[bái fàn]) / (bound form) to explain / to state (e.g. 辯白|辩白[biàn bái]) / (bound form) to give a disdainful look (e.g. 白了他一眼[bái le tā yī yǎn]) / (bound form) vernacular (e.g. 白話|白话[bái huà]) / (bound form) spoken lines in opera (e.g. 念白[niàn bái]) / (bound form) reactionary / anti-communist (e.g. 白區|白区[bái qū])

    Bái

    surname Bai / Bai ethnic group

  • 手
    shǒu

    hand / (formal) to hold / person engaged in certain types of work / person skilled in certain types of work / personal(ly) / convenient / classifier for skill / CL:雙|双[shuāng],隻|只[zhī]

  • 起
    qǐ

    to rise / to raise / to get up / to set out / to start / to appear / to launch / to initiate (action) / to draft / to establish / to get (from a depot or counter) / verb suffix, to start / starting from (a time, place, price etc) / classifier for occurrences or unpredictable events: case, instance / classifier for groups: batch, group

  • 家
    jiā

    used in 傢伙|家伙[jiā huo] and 傢俱|家俱[jiā jù] / home / family / (polite) my (sister, uncle etc) / classifier for families or businesses / refers to the philosophical schools of pre-Han China / noun suffix for a specialist in some activity, such as a musician or revolutionary, corresponding to English -ist, -er, -ary or -ian / CL:個|个[gè]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.