牵一发而动全身
qiān​yī​fà'ér​dòng​quán​shēn

to affect the whole system

  • created sense approved 牵一发而动全身/牽一髮而動全身 · qiān​yī​fà'ér​dòng​quán​shēn · to affect the whole system — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    牵一发而动全身 / 牽一髮而動全身

    qiān​yī​fà'ér​dòng​quán​shēn

    to affect the whole system

    (idiom) literally pulling a single hair makes the whole body move; used to describe how a tiny change in one part can impact the entire situation or system

    qiān​yī​fǎ'ér​dòng​quán​shēn

    牵 (literal) → 牵/牽 · qiān · to lead 一发 (literal) → 一发/一髮 · yī​fà · a single hair 而 (literal) → 而 · ér · [adverbial linker] 动 (literal) → 动/動 · dòng · to move 全身 (literal) → 全身 · quán​shēn · whole body

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

    created sense