做 牛 做 马

zuò niú zuò mǎdictionary entry

lit. to work like an ox, to work like a horse / fig. to work extremely hard

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-77497c60ea795f66. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

做牛做馬 做牛做马 [zuo4 niu2 zuo4 ma3] /lit. to work like an ox, to work like a horse; fig. to work extremely hard/

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: 做牛做馬

做
zuò
to make / to produce / to write / to compose / to do / to engage in / to hold (a party etc) / (of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc) / to become (husband and wife, friends etc) / (of a thing) to serve as / to be used for / to assume (an air or manner)
牛
niú
ox / cow / bull / CL:條|条[tiáo],頭|头[tóu] / newton (abbr. for 牛頓|牛顿[niú dùn]) / (slang) awesome
Niú
surname Niu
做
zuò
to make / to produce / to write / to compose / to do / to engage in / to hold (a party etc) / (of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc) / to become (husband and wife, friends etc) / (of a thing) to serve as / to be used for / to assume (an air or manner)
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]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.