磨 杵 成 针

mó chǔ chéng zhēndictionary entry

to grind an iron bar down to a fine needle (idiom); fig. to persevere in a difficult task / to study diligently

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-b8adc33fbfc8693b. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

磨杵成針 磨杵成针 [mo2 chu3 cheng2 zhen1] /to grind an iron bar down to a fine needle (idiom); fig. to persevere in a difficult task/to study diligently/

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

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Other forms in these source records: 磨杵成針

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.