DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

螻蟻

简蝼蚁 · 繁螻蟻

Mandarin · pinyin lóu yǐ

lit. mole cricket and ants
fig. tiny individuals with no power

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

螻: Look up this written character
蟻: Look up this written character
蝼: lóu · a mole cricket, Gryllotalpa africana
蚁: yǐ · ants

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–3 · lou2 yi3

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

2character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

螻蟻 · find source passages ↗ · 蝼蚁 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

mole crickets and ants
(by extension) tiny creatures
(figuratively) petty, powerless people

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack