DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

蝸行牛步

简蜗行牛步 · 繁蝸行牛步

Mandarin · pinyin wō xíng niú bù

lit. to crawl like a snail and plod along like an old ox (idiom)
fig. to move at a snail's pace
to make slow progress

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

蝸: Look up this written character
行: xíng · go; walk; move, travel; circulate; Kangxi radical 144
牛: niú · cow, ox, bull; Kangxi radical 93; 9th lunar mansion, determinative star β Capricorni (Dabih)
步: bù · step, pace; walk, stroll
蜗: wō · a snail, Eulota callizoma

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–2–2–4 · wo1 xing2 niu2 bu4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character 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.

蝸行牛步 · find source passages ↗ · 蜗行牛步 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

wo1 hang4 ngau4 bou6

Cantonese word readings for 蝸行牛步. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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