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有钱能使鬼推磨

yǒu qián néng shǐ guǐ tuī mòdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. with money, you can get a devil to turn a millstone (idiom) / fig. with money, you can get anything done / money talks
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-9c9f77637d48de49. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

有錢能使鬼推磨 有钱能使鬼推磨 [you3 qian2 neng2 shi3 gui3 tui1 mo4] /lit. with money, you can get a devil to turn a millstone (idiom)/fig. with money, you can get anything done; money talks/

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: 有錢能使鬼推磨

  • 有
    yǒu

    to have / there is / (bound form) having / with / -ful / -ed / -al (as in 有意[yǒu yì] intentional)

  • 钱
    qián

    coin / money / CL:筆|笔[bǐ] / unit of weight, one tenth of a tael 兩|两[liǎng]

    Qián

    surname Qian

  • 能
    néng

    can / to be able to / might possibly / ability / (physics) energy

    Néng

    surname Neng

  • 使
    shǐ

    to make / to cause / to enable / to use / to employ / to send / to instruct sb to do sth / envoy / messenger

  • 鬼
    guǐ

    disembodied spirit / ghost / devil / (suffix) person with a certain vice or addiction etc / sly / crafty / resourceful (variant of 詭|诡[guǐ]) / one of the 28 constellations of ancient Chinese astronomy

  • 推
    tuī

    to push / to cut / to refuse / to reject / to decline / to shirk (responsibility) / to put off / to delay / to push forward / to nominate / to elect / massage

  • 磨
    mó

    to rub / to grind / to polish / to sharpen / to wear down / to die out / to waste time / to pester / to insist

    mò

    grindstone / to grind / to turn round

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.