DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

執牛耳

简执牛耳 · 繁執牛耳

Mandarin · pinyin zhí niú ěr

to be the acknowledged leader (from the custom of a prince holding a plate on which lay the severed ears of a sacrificial bull at an alliance ceremony)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

執: Look up this written character
牛: niú · cow, ox, bull; Kangxi radical 93; 9th lunar mansion, determinative star β Capricorni (Dabih)
耳: ěr · ear; merely, only; handle; Kangxi radical 128
执: zhí · hold in hand; keep; carry out

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–2–3 · zhi2 niu2 er3

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

3character 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.

執牛耳 · find source passages ↗ · 执牛耳 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zap1 ngau4 ji5

Cantonese word readings for 執牛耳. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

verb

(verb-object) to be a leader; to hold supremacy; to occupy a leading position

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

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