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羊毛出在羊身上

yáng máo chū zài yáng shēn shàngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. wool comes from the sheep's back (idiom) / One gets the benefit, but the price has been paid. / Nothing comes for free.
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-b0f5b7a3848f711a. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

羊毛出在羊身上 羊毛出在羊身上 [yang2 mao2 chu1 zai4 yang2 shen1 shang4] /lit. wool comes from the sheep's back (idiom); One gets the benefit, but the price has been paid./Nothing comes for free./

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.

  • 羊
    Yáng

    surname Yang

  • 毛
    máo

    hair / feather / down / wool / mildew / mold / coarse or semifinished / young / raw / careless / unthinking / nervous / scared / (of currency) to devalue or depreciate / classifier for Chinese fractional monetary unit ( = 角[jiǎo] , = one-tenth of a yuan or 10 fen 分[fēn])

    Máo

    surname Mao

  • 出
    chū

    to go out / to come out / to arise / to occur / to produce / to yield / to go beyond / to exceed / (used after a verb to indicate an outward direction or a positive result) / classifier for dramas, plays, operas etc

  • 在
    zài

    to exist / to be alive / (of sb or sth) to be (located) at / (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress)

  • 羊
    Yáng

    surname Yang

  • 身
    shēn

    body / life / oneself / personally / one's morality and conduct / the main part of a structure or body / pregnant / classifier for sets of clothes: suit, twinset / Kangxi radical 158

  • 上
    shǎng

    used in 上聲|上声[shǎng shēng]

    shàng

    (bound form) up / upper / above / previous / first (of multiple parts) / to climb / to get onto / to go up / to attend (class or university) / (directional complement) up / (noun suffix) on / above

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.