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九牛一毛

jiǔ niú yī máodictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
(lit.) one hair from nine oxen (idiom) / (fig.) a drop in the ocean
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-079a133115e215de. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

九牛一毛 九牛一毛 [jiu3 niu2 yi1 mao2] /(lit.) one hair from nine oxen (idiom)/(fig.) a drop in the ocean/

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.

  • 九
    jiǔ

    nine / 9

  • 牛
    niú

    ox / cow / bull / CL:條|条[tiáo],頭|头[tóu] / newton (abbr. for 牛頓|牛顿[niú dùn]) / (slang) awesome

    Niú

    surname Niu

  • 一
    yī

    one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire / whole / all / throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yāo] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit

  • 毛
    máo

    hair / feather / down / wool / mildew / mold / coarse or semifinished / young / raw / careless / unthinking / nervous / scared / (of currency) to devalue or depreciate / classifier for Chinese fractional monetary unit ( = 角[jiǎo] , = one-tenth of a yuan or 10 fen 分[fēn])

    Máo

    surname Mao

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.