# 海底捞针

hǎi dǐ lāo zhēn

Search for something almost impossible to find

## Meaning & wording

**Literally:** Fish a needle from the sea bottom

**Traditional Chinese:** 海底撈針

**Register:** Descriptive · general

[Choices & judgment](https://chinese-idioms.yudis.dev/idioms/topics/decisions)

## When to use it

Describe a search with a tiny target and enormous scope.

Emphasizes difficulty, not proof that success is impossible.

## Understanding the expression

A needle is tiny, while the sea bottom is vast and difficult to inspect. The expression describes searching with too little information across an overwhelming field of possibilities. It fits lost documents, unidentified contacts, or a missing item in a huge archive. The image does not mean the search must fail. A clue, index, or narrowed area can transform the task, so the practical lesson is to reduce the scope rather than merely declare defeat.

## Examples

只知道名字，找人如海底捞针。

### Traditional Chinese

只知道名字，找人如海底撈針。

zhī zhī dào míng zì ， zhǎo rén rú hǎi dǐ lāo zhēn 。

A name alone makes finding the person extremely difficult.

没有索引，查资料像海底捞针。

### Traditional Chinese

沒有索引，查資料像海底撈針。

méi yǒu suǒ yǐn ， chá zī liào xiàng hǎi dǐ lāo zhēn 。

Finding records without an index is a vast search.

在这些箱子里找戒指，简直海底捞针。

### Traditional Chinese

在這些箱子裡找戒指，簡直海底撈針。

zài zhè xiē xiāng zǐ lǐ zhǎo jiè zhǐ ， jiǎn zhí hǎi dǐ lāo zhēn 。

Finding the ring among these boxes is extremely difficult.

先缩小范围，别海底捞针。

### Traditional Chinese

先縮小範圍，別海底撈針。

xiān suō xiǎo fàn wéi ， bié hǎi dǐ lāo zhēn 。

Narrow the search rather than search blindly everywhere.

## Sources & reference checks

Original explanations and examples from Chinese Idioms Almanac. Source-checked October 6, 2026.

- [CC-CEDICT · forms & pronunciation](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdqb=%E6%B5%B7%E5%BA%95%E6%92%88%E9%87%9D)

- [Ministry of Education · 成語典](https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/idiomView.jsp?ID=679&webMd=1&la=0)

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