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寸步不离 (cùn bù bù lí) — to stick close to someone, to never leave someone's side

Definition

Chengyu meaning to stay right by someone's side, never taking a single step away. Often used for devoted followers, loyal pets, or close companions — a more literary, emphatic way to say someone 'never leaves' another.

idiom
to stick close to someoneto never leave someone's side

Examples

  • 寸步不离，。
    Nà ge hái zi zhěng tiān gēn mā ma cùn bù bù lí, yí bù dōu bù kěn lí kāi.
    That child sticks to his mother all day and refuses to leave her side even for a step.
  • 寸步不离，。
    Bǎo biāo duì zǒng tǒng cùn bù bù lí, què bǎo tā de ān quán.
    The bodyguard stays close to the president at all times to ensure his safety.
  • 寸步不离，。
    Zhè zhī xiǎo gǒu duì zhǔ rén cùn bù bù lí, zǒu dào nǎ r gēn dào nǎ r.
    This little dog never leaves its owner's side, following wherever they go.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

寸步tiny step
寸cùninch步bùstep
偏正Modifier + head
不离not leave
不bùnot离líleave
偏正Modifier + head

“寸步” means a tiny step, and “不离” means not leave, so one never leaves even a tiny distance.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

寸 has two unrelated original forms: a line on the hand and an abbreviated form of another character. It was borrowed for its sound, so the picture is unrelated to the modern meaning.

Open 寸 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

步 uses two 止 (foot) forms, one reversed, to show one foot stepping in front of the other.

Open 步 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 離; 离 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
隹隹zhuībird
Sound part声符shēngfú
离
离lí離lí
Same sound today

The traditional form 離 pairs 隹, a bird, with the sound part 离; the simplified 离 is a shorthand. This form first wrote a black-naped oriole, and the sound was borrowed for 'leave'.

Open 离 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set Phrases

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