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车水马龙

chē shuǐ mǎ lóngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
endless stream of horse and carriages (idiom) / heavy traffic
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-35a195d46290d866. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

車水馬龍 车水马龙 [che1 shui3 ma3 long2] /endless stream of horse and carriages (idiom)/heavy traffic/

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.

Other forms in these source records: 車水馬龍

  • 车
    chē

    car / vehicle / CL:輛|辆[liàng] / machine / to shape with a lathe / Kangxi radical 159

    jū

    war chariot (archaic) / rook (in Chinese chess) / rook (in chess)

    Chē

    surname Che

  • 水
    shuǐ

    water / (after a name) ... River / to swim (used mostly in 會水|会水[huì shuǐ] and 水性[shuǐ xìng]) / (coll.) lacking in substance / shoddy / (bound form) additional cost / extra income / classifier for washings of a garment

    Shuǐ

    surname Shui / Shui ethnic group

  • 马
    mǎ

    horse / CL:匹[pǐ] / horse or cavalry piece in Chinese chess / knight in Western chess

    Mǎ

    surname Ma / abbr. for Malaysia 馬來西亞|马来西亚[Mǎ lái xī yà]

  • 龙
    lóng

    Chinese dragon / loong / (fig.) emperor / dragon / (bound form) dinosaur

    Lóng

    surname Long

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.