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滄海一粟

简沧海一粟 · 繁滄海一粟

Mandarin · pinyin cāng hǎi yī sù

(lit.) one grain floating on the ocean (idiom)
(fig.) a drop in the ocean

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Characters in this entry

滄: Look up this written character
海: hǎi · sea, ocean; maritime
一: yī · one; a, an; alone
粟: sù · unhusked millet; grain
沧: cāng · blue, dark green; cold

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

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Mandarin tones

1–3–1–4 · cang1 hai3 yi1 su4

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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.

滄海一粟 · find source passages ↗ · 沧海一粟 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cong1 hoi2 jat1 suk1

Cantonese word readings for 滄海一粟. 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) drop in the ocean; drop in the bucket

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

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