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土牛木马 (tǔ niú mù mǎ): Meaning, Examples & Usage

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土牛木马

土牛木马 (tǔ niú mù mǎ): Something that is useless or ineffective despite appearing functional (idiom) — Meaning & Stroke Order

1.

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2.

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3.

Character Breakdown

土 • tǔ • earth, soil, ground • HSK 3.0 · L4

HSK 3.0 · L4

tǔ土

earth, soil, ground

牛 • niú • ox, cow, cattle • HSK 3.0 · L3

HSK 3.0 · L3

niú牛

ox, cow, cattle

木 • mù • tree; wood

mù木

tree; wood

马 • mǎ • horse • HSK 2.0 L3

HSK 3

mǎ马

horse

Word Info

Pinyintǔ niú mù mǎ

MeaningSomething that is useless or ineffective despite appearing functional; a sham or a facade.

Characters4

HSK—

Syntaxidiom

Learn the full idiom story

Read the origin story and cultural notes for 土牛木马

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Words Sharing Characters

More common words that include characters from 土牛木马.

Words with 土

土地tǔ dìterritory; local god of the land
土豆tǔ dòupotato
土壤tǔ rǎngsoil; ground
本土běn tǔone's native country
领土lǐng tǔterritory
风土人情fēng tǔ rén qínglocal customs and practices
出土chū tǔExcavate
国土guó tǔTerritory / homeland

Words with 牛

牛奶niú nǎimilk
牛仔裤niú zǎi kùjeans
吹牛chuī niúboast; brag
对牛弹琴duì niú tán qínPlaying the lute to a cow

Words with 木

木头mù touwood; log; timber
树木shù mùtree
木材mù cáiwood
麻木má mùnumb

Words with 马

马上mǎ shàngimmediately
马路mǎ lùstreet
马虎mǎ hucareless
马力mǎ lìHorsepower

公牛

gōng niú

bull

奶牛nǎi niúmilk cow

小牛xiǎo niúcalf; young cow

斗牛dòu niúbullfighting

木偶

mù ǒu

Puppet

木匠mù jiàngCarpenter / woodworker

伐木fá mùlogging; to cut wood

木制mù zhìmade of wood

马桶

mǎ tǒng

Toilet

骏马jùn mǎSteed / Fine horse

黑马hēi mǎDark horse

斑马线bān mǎ xiànZebra crossing

4.

Example Sentences with 土牛木马

zhè这

ge个

jì计

huà划

kàn看

qǐ起

lái来

hěn很

hǎo好

，

dàn但

shí实

jì际

shang上

shì是

tǔ土

niú牛

mù木

mǎ马

，

gēn根

běn本

háng行

bù不

tōng通

。

This plan looks good on the surface, but it's actually a clay ox and wooden horse—completely unworkable.

tā他

nà那

xiē些

suǒ所

wèi谓

de的

chuàng创

xīn新

chǎn产

pǐn

品

dōu都

shì是

tǔ土

niú牛

mù木

mǎ马

，

zhōng中

kàn看

bù不

zhōng中

yòng用

。

His so-called innovative products are all clay oxen and wooden horses—nice to look at but useless.