老鼠拖木锨，大头在后头 / 老鼠拖木鍁，大頭在後頭

lǎo​shǔ​tuō​mù​xiān​dà​tou​zài​hòu​tou

the best is yet to come

Literally "when a mouse drags a wooden shovel, the big head is at the back"; means that the most significant part of a situation or the most serious trouble is still to come.

老鼠 (literal) → 老鼠 · lǎo​shǔ · mouse 拖 (literal) → 拖 · tuō · to drag 木 (literal) → 木 · mù · wooden 锨 (literal) → 锨/鍁 · xiān · shovel ， (non_chinese) 大头 (literal) → 大头/大頭 · dà​tóu · lion's share 在 (literal) → 在 · zài · to be at 后头 (literal) → 后头/後頭 · hòu​tou · back

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

created sense May 20, 2026, 07:58 PM