Chinese word dictionary

独占鳌头

dú zhàn áo tóu · (idiom) to come first in triennial palace examinations (refers to the carved stone turtle head in front of the imperial palace, next to which the most successful candidate in the imperial examinations was entitled to stand); to be the champion; to be the very best in any field

Practice word

Word information

Simplified独占鳌头

Traditional獨占鰲頭

Pinyindú zhàn áo tóu

Part of speechDictionary

HSK 3.0Not listed

HSK 2.0Not listed

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

独dú

alone, independent, only, single, solitary

占zhàn

to divine; to observe; to versify

鳌áo

huge sea turtle

头tóu

head; chief, boss; first, top

How to learn 独占鳌头

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.

Related vocabulary

Words with the same characters

Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.

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:個|个[ge4]

hair (on the head)

to nod

steamed bun

to raise one's head; to look up; (fig.) to begin to emerge; to show signs of growth; (commerce) account name, or space for writing the name on checks, bills etc

头痛tóutòng

to have a headache