| 老鼠拖木锨，大头在后头 |
lǎo shǔ tuō mù xiān , dà tóu zài hòu tou |
when the mice drag a shovel, the biggest thing comes second / the tip of the iceberg / the cockroach principle |
| 老 |
lǎo |
prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity / old (of people) / venerable (person) / experienced / of long standing / always / all the time / of the past / very / outdated / (of meat etc) tough |
| 老鼠 |
lǎo shǔ |
rat; mouse (CL:只) |
| 鼠 |
shǔ |
(bound form) rat; mouse |
| 拖 |
tuō |
variant of 拖 |
| 拖 |
tuō |
to drag / to tow / to trail / to hang down / to mop (the floor) / to delay / to drag on |
| 木 |
Mù |
surname Mu |
| 木 |
mù |
(bound form) tree / (bound form) wood / unresponsive; numb; wooden |
| 锨 |
xiān |
shovel |
| 大 |
dà |
big; large; great / older (than another person) / eldest (as in 大姐) / greatly; freely; fully / (dialect) father / (dialect) uncle (father's brother) |
| 大 |
dài |
see 大夫 |
| 大头 |
dà tóu |
big head / mask in the shape of a big head / the larger end of sth / the main part / the lion's share / dupe / sucker / (old) silver coin with a bust of Yuan Shikai 袁世凯 on the obverse side |
| 头 |
tóu |
head / hair style / the top / end / beginning or end / a stub / remnant / chief / boss / side / aspect / first / leading / classifier for pigs or livestock / CL:个 |
| 头 |
tou |
suffix for nouns |
| 在 |
zài |
to exist; to be alive / (of sb or sth) to be (located) at / (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 在后 |
zài hòu |
behind |
| 后 |
Hòu |
surname Hou |
| 后 |
hòu |
empress / queen / (archaic) monarch / ruler |
| 后 |
hòu |
back / behind / rear / afterwards / after / later / post- |
| 后头 |
hòu tou |
behind / the back / the rear / later / afterwards / (in) the future |
| 头 |
tóu |
head / hair style / the top / end / beginning or end / a stub / remnant / chief / boss / side / aspect / first / leading / classifier for pigs or livestock / CL:个 |
| 头 |
tou |
suffix for nouns |