CHENGYU
七手八脚(qī shǒu bā jiǎo)meaning, story and origin
- Register:
- neutral
- Source:
- 宋·释普济《五灯会元》
MEANING
- Literal
- seven hands and eight feet
- Figurative meaning
- many people pitching in at once
ORIGIN STORY
From the Song dynasty Chan text Record of the Lamp, where a master jokes about people "with seven hands and eight feet, three heads and two faces". The counting words paint many limbs working together in a rush.
NATURAL EQUIVALENT
“all hands on deck”
EXAMPLES
大家七手八脚地把东西搬上了车。Dàjiā qī shǒu bā jiǎo de bǎ dōngxi bān shàng le chē.HSK6
Everyone pitched in — seven hands and eight feet — and loaded the truck.
医生护士七手八脚，很快做好了准备。Yīshēng hùshi qī shǒu bā jiǎo, hěn kuài zuò hǎo le zhǔnbèi.HSK6
Doctors and nurses worked with many hands at once and prepared quickly.
COMMON MISTAKE
Watch out: It is many people working together, often clumsily — not a single person being busy.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
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TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
- CC-CEDICT 2026-01-01