丈八蛇矛
zhàng bā shé máo · ancient spear-like weapon 18 Chinese feet 尺[chi3] in length, with a wavy spearhead like a snake's body
Character breakdown
Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.
How to learn 丈八蛇矛
Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.
When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.
Words with the same characters
Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.
husband
矛盾máodùncontradiction; CL:個|个[ge4]; conflicting views; contradictory
八成bāchéngeighty percent; most probably; most likely
八卦bāguàthe eight divinatory trigrams of the Book of Changes 易經|易经[Yi4 jing1]; gossip; gossipy
画蛇添足huàshé-tiānzúlit. draw legs on a snake (idiom); fig. to ruin the effect by adding sth superfluous; to overdo it
乱七八糟luànqībāzāo(idiom) chaotic; in disorder; muddled