割鸡焉用牛刀 — “Don't use a sledgehammer to crack a nut”
割鸡焉用牛刀 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Don't use a sledgehammer to crack a nut”. Don't use a big talent for a trivial task; why use an ox-butcher's knife to kill a chicken. Literally, “To kill a chicken, why use an ox-slaughtering knife?”.
割鸡焉用牛刀 Pronunciation and Pinyin
割鸡焉用牛刀 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 割鸡焉用牛刀
Idioms Related to 割鸡焉用牛刀
More idioms starting with 割
- gē割dì地qiú求hé和cede land for peace
- gē割dì地chēng称chén臣cede land and become a vassal
- gē割xí席fēn分zuò坐Sever ties with a friend
- gē割xí席duàn断jiāo交sever ties with a friend
- gē割ēn恩duàn断yì义renounce benefactor and betray trust
- gē割jù据yī一fāng方dominate a region independently
- gē割ròu肉bǔ补chuāng疮Desperate short-sighted measure creating worse problems
- gē割ròu肉sì饲hǔ虎make futile sacrifices to insatiable greed
- gē割dù肚qiān牵cháng肠deeply worried or anxious
- gē割gǔ股zhī之xīn心Utmost dedication and self-sacrifice
- gē割gǔ股liǎo疗qīn亲cut own flesh to heal parent
- gē割bì臂zhī之méng盟secret lovers' blood oath
Recommended tools
Chinese Text Image Generator
Create PNGs with pinyin, highlight character parts or remove strokes
Open the tool →
Stroke Order Animator
Turn a Chinese character or sentence into a GIF or MP4
Open the tool →
Character Highlight Animator
Choose character parts and animate their colors, together or in stroke order
Open the tool →
Picture Worksheets
Chinese and English fill-in vocabulary worksheets
Open the tool →Questions about 割鸡焉用牛刀
What does 割鸡焉用牛刀 mean?
割鸡焉用牛刀 (gē jī yān yòng niú dāo) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Don't use a sledgehammer to crack a nut”.
How do you pronounce 割鸡焉用牛刀?
割鸡焉用牛刀 is pronounced gē jī yān yòng niú dāo in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 割鸡焉用牛刀 literally mean?
Literally, 割鸡焉用牛刀 means “to kill a chicken, why use an ox-slaughtering knife?”. It is used to mean “Don't use a sledgehammer to crack a nut”.
What is the Chinese definition of 割鸡焉用牛刀?
杀只鸡何必用宰牛的刀。比喻办小事情用不着花大气力。