失之毫釐，差之千里
shī​zhī​háo​lí​chà​zhī​qiān​lǐ

a tiny lapse can lead to a huge mistake

  • created sense approved 失之毫厘，差之千里/失之毫釐，差之千里 · shī​zhī​háo​lí​chà​zhī​qiān​lǐ · a tiny lapse can lead to a huge mistake — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    失之毫厘，差之千里 / 失之毫釐，差之千里

    shī​zhī​háo​lí​chà​zhī​qiān​lǐ

    a tiny lapse can lead to a huge mistake

    (idiom) a minor discrepancy leading to enormous losses; for the want of a nail the shoe was lost

    失 (literal) → 失 · shī · mistake 之 (literal) → 之 · zhī · [nominalizer] 毫厘 (literal) → 毫厘/毫釐 · háo​lí · an iota ， (non_chinese) 差 (literal) → 差 · chā · difference 之 (literal) → 之 · zhī · [nominalizer] 千里 (literal) → 千里 · qiān​lǐ · a thousand li

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense