牛角掛書

简 牛角挂书 · 繁 牛角掛書
Mandarin · pinyin niú jiǎo guà shū

Meanings

  1. lit. to hang one's books on cow horns (idiom)
  2. fig. to be diligent in one's studies
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Characters in this entry

牛
niú · cow, ox, bull; Kangxi radical 93; 9th lunar mansion, determinative star β Capricorni (Dabih)
角
jiǎo · horn; angle, corner; point; Kangxi radical 148; 1st lunar mansion, determinative star Spica
掛
guà · hang, suspend; suspense
書
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挂
guà · hang, suspend; suspense
书
shū · book, letter, document; writings
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–3–4–1 · niu2 jiao3 gua4 shu1

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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.

牛角掛書 · find source passages ↗ · 牛角挂书 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ngau4 gok3 gwaa3 syu1

Cantonese word readings for 牛角掛書. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

牛角掛書 · niu2 jiao3 gua4 shu1
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 71,700
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record牛角掛書 牛角挂书 [niu2 jiao3 gua4 shu1] /lit. to hang one's books on cow horns (idiom)/fig. to be diligent in one's studies/