老蚌生珠 — Chinese idiom

Meaning

• lit. an old oyster producing a pearl
• fig. birthing a son at an advanced age

Character by character

• 老lǎoold, aged; experienced
• 蚌bàngoysters, mussels; mother-of-pearl
• 生shēnglife, lifetime; birth; growth
• 珠zhūgem, jewel, pearl, precious stone

Idioms sharing a character

• 倚老卖老 yǐ lǎo mài lǎo
• 告老还乡 gào lǎo huán xiāng
• 天荒地老 tiān huāng dì lǎo
• 宝刀不老 bǎo dāo bù lǎo
• 宝刀未老 bǎo dāo wèi lǎo
• 年老力衰 nián lǎo lì shuāi
• 年老体弱 nián lǎo tǐ ruò
• 敬老尊贤 jìng lǎo zūn xián
• 月下老人 yuè xià lǎo rén
• 深山老林 shēn shān lǎo lín

Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3). Retrieved 2026-10-22.