DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

八字還沒一撇兒

简八字还没一撇儿 · 繁八字還沒一撇兒

Mandarin · pinyin bā zì hái méi yī piě r

lit. there is not even the first stroke of the character 八 bā (idiom)
fig. things have not even begun to take shape
no sign of success yet

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

八: bā · eight; all around, all sides
字: zì · letter, character, word
還: hái · still, yet, also, besides
沒: méi · not, have not, none; to drown, sink
一: yī · one; a, an; alone
撇: piē · discard, abandon, throw away
兒: ér · son, child, oneself; final part
还: hái · still, yet, also, besides
没: méi · not, have not, none; drown, sink
儿: ér · son, child; Kangxi radical 10

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–4–2–2–1–3–5 · ba1 zi4 hai2 mei2 yi1 pie3 r5

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

10character links1source reference

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.

八字還沒一撇兒 · find source passages ↗ · 八字还没一撇儿 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(Mandarin) erhua form of 八字還沒一撇／八字还没一撇 (bāzì hái méi yī piě, “things have not even begun to take shape”)

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

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