DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

擦肩而過

简擦肩而过 · 繁擦肩而過

Mandarin · pinyin cā jiān ér guò

to brush past; to pass by (sb)
(fig.) to miss (an opportunity, a danger etc); to have a brush (with death)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

擦: cā · wipe, scrub, rub, scour; brush
肩: jiān · shoulders; to shoulder; bear
而: ér · and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
過: guò · pass, pass through, go across
过: guò · pass, pass through, go across

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–1–2–4 · ca1 jian1 er2 guo4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

5character 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.

擦肩而過 · find source passages ↗ · 擦肩而过 · 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

(idiomatic) to brush past (someone, opportunity, death, etc.)

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

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