老 骥 伏 枥

lǎo jì fú lìdictionary entry

lit. an old steed in the stable still aspires to gallop 1000 miles (idiom) / fig. aged person with great aspirations

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-a97cb82543add823. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

老驥伏櫪 老骥伏枥 [lao3 ji4 fu2 li4] /lit. an old steed in the stable still aspires to gallop 1000 miles (idiom); fig. aged person with great aspirations/

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: 老驥伏櫪

老
lǎo
prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity / old (of people) / venerable (person) / experienced / of long standing / always / all the time / of the past / very / outdated / (of meat etc) tough
骥
jì
thoroughbred horse / refined and virtuous
伏
fú
to lean over / to fall (go down) / to hide (in ambush) / to conceal oneself / to lie low / hottest days of summer / to submit / to concede defeat / to overcome / to subdue / volt
Fú
surname Fu
枥
lì
type of oak / stable (for horses)

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.