DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

燕子銜泥壘大窩

简燕子衔泥垒大窝 · 繁燕子銜泥壘大窩

Mandarin · pinyin yàn zi xián ní lěi dà wō

the swallow's nest is built one beakful of mud at a time (idiom)
many a little makes a mickle

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Characters in this entry

燕: yàn · swallow (bird); comfort, enjoy
子: zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch
銜: Look up this written character
泥: ní · mud, mire; earth, clay; plaster
壘: Look up this written character
大: dà · big, great, vast, large, high
窩: Look up this written character
衔: xián · bit; hold in mouth, bite; gag
垒: lěi · rampart, military wall
窝: wō · nest; cave, den; hiding place

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

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Mandarin tones

4–5–2–2–3–4–1 · yan4 zi5 xian2 ni2 lei3 da4 wo1

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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.

燕子銜泥壘大窩 · find source passages ↗ · 燕子衔泥垒大窝 · find source passages ↗

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