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一叶障目

yī yè zhàng mùdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. eyes obscured by a single leaf (idiom) / fig. not seeing the wider picture / can't see the wood for the trees
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-b87447506e4fb1ed. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

一葉障目 一叶障目 [yi1 ye4 zhang4 mu4] /lit. eyes obscured by a single leaf (idiom)/fig. not seeing the wider picture/can't see the wood for the trees/

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: 一葉障目

  • 一
    yī

    one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire / whole / all / throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yāo] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit

  • 叶
    xié

    to be in harmony

    yè

    leaf / page / lobe / (historical) period / classifier for small boats

    Yè

    surname Ye

  • 障
    zhàng

    to block / to hinder / to obstruct

  • 目
    mù

    eye / (literary) to look / to regard / eye (of a net) / mesh / mesh size / grit size (abbr. for 目數|目数[mù shù]) / item / section / list / catalogue / (taxonomy) order / name / title

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.