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百裡挑一

简百里挑一 · 繁百裡挑一

Mandarin · pinyin bǎi lǐ tiāo yī

one in a hundred
cream of the crop

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Characters in this entry

百: bǎi · one hundred; numerous, many
裡: Look up this written character
挑: tiāo · a load carried on the shoulders; to carry
一: yī · one; a, an; alone
里: lǐ · unit of distance; village; lane; Kangxi radical 166

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–1–1 · bai3 li3 tiao1 yi1

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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.

百裡挑一 · find source passages ↗ · 百里挑一 · find source passages ↗

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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) one in a hundred; cream of the crop

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

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