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八字还没一撇儿

bā zì hái méi yī piě rdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. there is not even the first stroke of the character 八[bā] (idiom) / fig. things have not even begun to take shape / no sign of success yet
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-4564a5228a243842. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

八字還沒一撇兒 八字还没一撇儿 [ba1 zi4 hai2 mei2 yi1 pie3 r5] /lit. there is not even the first stroke of the character 八[ba1] (idiom)/fig. things have not even begun to take shape/no sign of success yet/

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: 八字還沒一撇兒

  • 八
    bā

    eight

  • 字
    zì

    letter / symbol / character / word / CL:個|个[gè] / courtesy or style name traditionally given to males aged 20 in dynastic China

  • 还
    hái

    still / still in progress / still more / yet / even more / in addition / fairly / passably (good) / as early as / even / also / else

    huán

    to pay back / to return

    Huán

    surname Huan

  • 没
    méi

    (negative prefix for verbs) have not / not

    mò

    drowned / to end / to die / to inundate

  • 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

  • 撇
    piē

    to cast away / to fling aside

    piě

    to throw / to cast / left-slanting downward brush stroke (calligraphy)

  • 儿
    ér

    child / son

    r

    non-syllabic diminutive suffix / retroflex final

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.