乌头马角 — “Refers to something utterly impossible or highly improbable to happen”
乌头马角 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “refers to something utterly impossible or highly improbable to happen”. An unattainable feat. Literally, “Black crow's head turns white, horse grows horns”.
乌头马角 Pronunciation and Pinyin
乌头马角 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 乌头马角
Origin and Story of 乌头马角
During the late Warring States period, Prince Dan of Yan was held as a hostage in Qin. After a conflict with King Ying Zheng of Qin, he was imprisoned.
Prince Dan pleaded to be allowed to return to his home country. King Qin replied, "I will grant your request only when a crow's head turns white and a horse grows horns."
Prince Dan could only sigh to the sky in despair. Perhaps heaven had eyes; a white-headed crow flew by outside his prison cell.
Faced with this extraordinary sight, the King of Qin had no choice but to send Prince Dan back to Yan.
Idioms Related to 乌头马角
More idioms starting with 乌
- wū乌qī七bā八zāo糟in a terrible mess
- wū乌zhī之cí雌xióng雄unable to distinguish good from evil
- wū乌yún云yā压dǐng顶impending crisis or great pressure
- wū乌hé合zhī之zhòng众disorganized rabble
- wū乌hé合zhī之zú卒a disorganized and undisciplined crowd
- wū乌tiān天hēi黑dì地utterly dark, chaotic, or degenerate
- wū乌tóu头bái白mǎ马shēng生jiǎo角An absurd impossibility
- wū乌mào帽hóng红qún裙men and women in general
- wū乌yǒu有xiān先shēng生a fictitious person or thing
- wū乌qī漆mò墨hēi黑pitch-dark
- wū乌dēng灯hēi黑huǒ火utterly dark without any light or fire
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Open the tool →Questions about 乌头马角
What does 乌头马角 mean?
乌头马角 (wū tóu mǎ jiǎo) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “refers to something utterly impossible or highly improbable to happen”.
How do you pronounce 乌头马角?
乌头马角 is pronounced wū tóu mǎ jiǎo in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 乌头马角 literally mean?
Literally, 乌头马角 means “Black crow's head turns white, horse grows horns”. It is used to mean “refers to something utterly impossible or highly improbable to happen”.
Where does 乌头马角 come from?
乌头马角 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 乌头马角?
比喻不能实现之事。同“乌白马角”。