DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
九牛二虎之力
Mandarin · pinyin jiǔ niú èr hǔ zhī lì
Meanings
- tremendous strength (idiom)
Characters in this entry
- 九
- jiǔ · nine
- 牛
- niú · cow, ox, bull; Kangxi radical 93; 9th lunar mansion, determinative star β Capricorni (Dabih)
- 二
- èr · two; twice
- 虎
- hǔ · tiger; brave, fierce; surname
- 之
- zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
- 力
- lì · power, capability, influence; Kangxi radical 19
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
3–2–4–3–1–4 · jiu3 niu2 er4 hu3 zhi1 li4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
6character links
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
gau2 ngau4 ji6 fu2 zi1 lik6
Cantonese word readings for 九牛二虎之力. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
gau2 ngau4 ji6 fu2 zi1 lik6
Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
phrase
- (figurative) tremendous strength
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack