大海撈針

See also: 大海捞针

Chinese

		ocean; sea; large bowl or wine cup	fish up	needle; pin; injection
trad. (大海撈針)		大海	撈	針
simp. (大海捞针)		大海	捞	针
Literally: “dredge up a needle from the vast ocean”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dàhǎilāozhēn

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄚˋ ㄏㄞˇ ㄌㄠ ㄓㄣ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): daai⁶ hoi² laau⁴ zam¹ / daai⁶ hoi² laau¹ zam¹ / daai⁶ hoi² lou⁴ zam¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dàhǎilāozhēn
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄚˋ ㄏㄞˇ ㄌㄠ ㄓㄣ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dàhǎilaojhen
    • Wade–Giles: ta⁴-hai³-lao¹-chên¹
    • Yale: dà-hǎi-lāu-jēn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dahhaelhaujen
    • Palladius: дахайлаочжэнь (daxajlaočžɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tä⁵¹ xaɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ lɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂən⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: daai⁶ hoi² laau⁴ zam¹ / daai⁶ hoi² laau¹ zam¹ / daai⁶ hoi² lou⁴ zam¹
    • Yale: daaih hói làauh jām / daaih hói lāau jām / daaih hói lòuh jām
    • Cantonese Pinyin: daai⁶ hoi² laau⁴ dzam¹ / daai⁶ hoi² laau¹ dzam¹ / daai⁶ hoi² lou⁴ dzam¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: dai⁶ hoi² lao⁴ zem¹ / dai⁶ hoi² lao¹ zem¹ / dai⁶ hoi² lou⁴ zem¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /taːi̯²² hɔːi̯³⁵ laːu̯²¹ t͡sɐm⁵⁵/, /taːi̯²² hɔːi̯³⁵ laːu̯⁵⁵ t͡sɐm⁵⁵/, /taːi̯²² hɔːi̯³⁵ lou̯²¹ t͡sɐm⁵⁵/

Idiom

(deprecated template usage) 大海撈針

1. to look for a needle in a haystack

Synonyms

• 海底撈針／海底捞针 (hǎidǐlāozhēn)
• 海底摸針／海底摸针 (hǎidǐmōzhēn)
• 東海撈針／东海捞针 (dōnghǎilāozhēn)
• 水底撈針／水底捞针 (shuǐdǐlāozhēn)