瞎 子 摸 象

xiā zi mō xiàngdictionary entry

blind people touch an elephant (idiom, from Nirvana sutra 大般涅槃經|大般涅盘经[dà bān Niè pán jīng]) / fig. unable to see the big picture / to mistake the part for the whole / unable to see the wood for the trees

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-234108567fcb3d51. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

瞎子摸象 瞎子摸象 [xia1 zi5 mo1 xiang4] /blind people touch an elephant (idiom, from Nirvana sutra 大般涅槃經|大般涅盘经[da4 ban1 Nie4 pan2 jing1]); fig. unable to see the big picture/to mistake the part for the whole/unable to see the wood for the trees/

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.

瞎
xiā
blind / groundlessly / foolishly / to no purpose
子
zǐ
son / child / seed / egg / small thing / 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the rat / viscount, fourth of five orders of nobility 五等爵位[wǔ děng jué wèi] / ancient Chinese compass point: 0° (north) / subsidiary / subordinate / (prefix) sub-
zi
noun suffix, as in 椅子[yǐ zi] "chair"
摸
mō
to feel with the hand / to touch / to stroke / to grope / to steal / to abstract
mó
See the full entry for source details.
象
xiàng
elephant / CL:隻|只[zhī] / shape / form / appearance / to imitate

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.