nǎ mén zidictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
(coll.) (emphasizing a rhetorical question) what / what kind / why on earth
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-3c1dc2350f3d878f. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

哪門子 哪门子 [na3 men2 zi5] /(coll.) (emphasizing a rhetorical question) what/what kind/why on earth/

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: 哪門子

  • 哪
    nǎ

    how / which

    na

    (emphatic sentence-final particle, used instead of 啊[a] after a word ending in "n")

    né

    used in 哪吒[Né zhā] / Taiwan pr. [nuó]

    něi

    which? (interrogative, followed by classifier or numeral-classifier)

  • 门
    mén

    gate / door / doorway / gateway / opening (CL:扇[shàn]) / valve / switch / other door-like or gate-like structure / way to do sth / knack / method / approach / family / household / lineage / (bound form) sect / school / faction (religious or academic) / (bound form) class / category / division / phylum / classifier for courses, fields of study, branches of technology, relatives by marriage, guns etc / (suffix) -gate (scandal)

    Mén

    surname Men

  • 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"

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.