The New Dictionary.
Search dictionary
Chinese/Dictionary entry

百里挑一

bǎi lǐ tiāo yīdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
one in a hundred / cream of the crop
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-c468ac1434bdc27e. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

百裡挑一 百里挑一 [bai3 li3 tiao1 yi1] /one in a hundred/cream of the crop/

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: 百裡挑一

  • 百
    bǎi

    hundred / numerous / all kinds of

    Bǎi

    surname Bai

  • 里
    lǐ

    lining / interior / inside / internal / also written 裏|里[lǐ] / li, ancient measure of length, approx. 500 m / neighborhood / ancient administrative unit of 25 families / (Tw) borough, administrative unit between the township 鎮|镇[zhèn] and neighborhood 鄰|邻[lín] levels

    Lǐ

    surname Li

  • 挑
    tiāo

    to carry on a shoulder pole / to choose / to pick / to nitpick

    tiǎo

    to raise / to dig up / to poke / to prick / to incite / to stir up

  • 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

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.