DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

小試牛刀

简小试牛刀 · 繁小試牛刀

Mandarin · pinyin xiǎo shì niú dāo

to give a small demonstration of one's impressive skills (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

小: xiǎo · small, tiny, insignificant
試: Look up this written character
牛: niú · cow, ox, bull; Kangxi radical 93; 9th lunar mansion, determinative star β Capricorni (Dabih)
刀: dāo · knife; old coin; measure
试: shì · test, try, experiment

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–2–1 · xiao3 shi4 niu2 dao1

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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.

小試牛刀 · find source passages ↗ · 小试牛刀 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

siu2 si3 ngau4 dou1

Cantonese word readings for 小試牛刀. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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