一 把 钥 匙 开 一 把 锁

yī bǎ yào shi kāi yī bǎ suǒdictionary entry

One key opens one lock. / There is a different solution for each problem. (idiom)

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-5f7d86e43e29f6b6. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

一把鑰匙開一把鎖 一把钥匙开一把锁 [yi1 ba3 yao4 shi5 kai1 yi1 ba3 suo3] /One key opens one lock./There is a different solution for each problem. (idiom)/

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: 一把鑰匙開一把鎖

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
把
bǎ
to hold / to grasp / to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate / handlebar / classifier: handful, bundle, bunch / classifier for things with handles / (used to put the object before the verb: 把[bǎ] + {noun} + {verb})
bà
handle
钥
yuè
key / also pr. [yào]
匙
chí
spoon
shi
used in 鑰匙|钥匙[yào shi]
开
kāi
to open (transitive or intransitive) / (of ships, vehicles, troops etc) to start / to turn on / to put in operation / to operate / to run / to boil / to write out (a prescription, check, invoice etc) / (directional complement) away / off / carat (gold) / abbr. for Kelvin, 開爾文|开尔文[Kāi ěr wén] / abbr. for 開本|开本[kāi běn], book format
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
把
bǎ
to hold / to grasp / to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate / handlebar / classifier: handful, bundle, bunch / classifier for things with handles / (used to put the object before the verb: 把[bǎ] + {noun} + {verb})
bà
handle
锁
suǒ
to lock / to lock up / a lock (CL:把[bǎ])

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.