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冰冻三尺，非一日之寒

bīng dòng sān chǐ , fēi yī rì zhī hándictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
three feet of ice does not form in a single day (idiom) / Rome wasn't built in a day
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-d5993721533ad5c4. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

冰凍三尺，非一日之寒 冰冻三尺，非一日之寒 [bing1 dong4 san1 chi3 , fei1 yi1 ri4 zhi1 han2] /three feet of ice does not form in a single day (idiom); Rome wasn't built in a day/

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: 冰凍三尺，非一日之寒

  • 冰
    bīng

    ice / CL:塊|块[kuài] / to chill sth / (of an object or substance) to feel cold / (of a person) cold / unfriendly / (slang) methamphetamine

  • 冻
    dòng

    to freeze / to feel very cold / aspic or jelly

  • 三
    sān

    three / 3

    Sān

    surname San

  • 尺
    chě

    one of the characters used to represent a musical note in gongche notation, 工尺譜|工尺谱[gōng chě pǔ]

    chǐ

    a Chinese foot / one-third of a meter / a ruler / a tape-measure / one of the three acupoints for measuring pulse in Chinese medicine / CL:支[zhī],把[bǎ]

  • 非
    fēi

    to not be / not / wrong / incorrect / non- / un- / in- / de- / to reproach / to blame / (coll.) to insist on / simply must

    Fēi

    abbr. for 非洲[Fēi zhōu], Africa

  • 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

  • 日
    rì

    (bound form) sun / day / day of the month / (bound form) Japan (abbr. for 日本[Rì běn]) / (vulgar) to fuck / to have sex with

  • 之
    zhī

    (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de]) / him / her / it

  • 寒
    hán

    cold / poor / to tremble

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.