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Chinese/Dictionary entry

四两拨千斤

sì liǎng bō qiān jīndictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
(lit.) four ounces can move a thousand catties (idiom) / (fig.) to achieve much with little effort
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-9fe199c7de0a9a1c. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

四兩撥千斤 四两拨千斤 [si4 liang3 bo1 qian1 jin1] /(lit.) four ounces can move a thousand catties (idiom)/(fig.) to achieve much with little effort/

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: 四兩撥千斤

  • 四
    sì

    four / 4

  • 两
    liǎng

    two / both / some / a few / tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤[jīn] (old)

  • 拨
    bō

    to push aside with the hand, foot, a stick etc / to dial / to allocate / to set aside (money) / to poke (the fire) / to pluck (a string instrument) / to turn round / classifier: group, batch

  • 千
    qiān

    thousand / used in 鞦韆|秋千[qiū qiān]

  • 斤
    jīn

    catty / (PRC) weight equal to 500 g / (Tw) weight equal to 600 g / (HK, Malaysia, Singapore) slightly over 604 g

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.