yī lì lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō zhōudictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. one pellet of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of congee (idiom) / fig. one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch
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-10f48ce11dc2c43c. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

一粒老鼠屎壞了一鍋粥 一粒老鼠屎坏了一锅粥 [yi1 li4 lao3 shu3 shi3 huai4 le5 yi1 guo1 zhou1] /lit. one pellet of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of congee (idiom)/fig. one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch/

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Reference information

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

Character information

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Other forms in these source records: 一粒老鼠屎壞了一鍋粥

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.