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大海撈針

简大海捞针 · 繁大海撈針

Mandarin · pinyin dà hǎi lāo zhēn

lit. to fish a needle from the sea
to find a needle in a haystack (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

大: dà · big, great, vast, large, high
海: hǎi · sea, ocean; maritime
撈: Look up this written character
針: Look up this written character
捞: lāo · scoop out of water; dredge, fish
针: zhēn · needle; pin; tack; acupuncture

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–1–1 · da4 hai3 lao1 zhen1

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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.

大海撈針 · find source passages ↗ · 大海捞针 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

daai6 hoi2 laau4 zam1

Cantonese word readings for 大海撈針. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to look for a needle in a haystack

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

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