手無縛雞之力
简 手无缚鸡之力 · 繁 手無縛雞之力Meanings
- (lit.) lacking the strength even to truss a chicken (saying)
- (fig.) weak; unaccustomed to physical work
Characters in this entry
- 手
- shǒu · hand
- 無
- Look up this written character
- 縛
- Look up this written character
- 雞
- jī · chickens; domestic fowl
- 之
- zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
- 力
- lì · power, capability, influence; Kangxi radical 19
- 无
- wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
- 缚
- fù · to tie
- 鸡
- jī · chicken
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
3–2–4–1–1–4 · shou3 wu2 fu4 ji1 zhi1 li4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
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.
手無縛雞之力 · find source passages ↗ · 手无缚鸡之力 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
sau2 mou4 bok3 gai1 zi1 lik6
Cantonese word readings for 手無縛雞之力. 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 be very weak and lacking physical strength
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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