DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
雞蛋裡挑骨頭
简 鸡蛋里挑骨头 · 繁 雞蛋裡挑骨頭Mandarin · pinyin jī dàn li tiāo gǔ tou
Meanings
- to look for bones in an egg
- to find fault
- to nitpick (idiom)
Characters in this entry
- 雞
- jī · chickens; domestic fowl
- 蛋
- dàn · eggs; term of abuse
- 裡
- Look up this written character
- 挑
- tiāo · a load carried on the shoulders; to carry
- 骨
- gǔ · bone; skeleton; frame, framework; Kangxi radical 188
- 頭
- tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
- 鸡
- jī · chicken
- 里
- lǐ · unit of distance; village; lane; Kangxi radical 166
- 头
- tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
1–4–5–1–3–5 · ji1 dan4 li5 tiao1 gu3 tou5
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
8character links
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
gai1 daan2 leoi5 tiu1 gwat1 tau4
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
- (idiomatic) to nitpick; to deliberately find fault
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack