📖 Meaning
Describes an immense crowd of people so densely packed that one person's toes nearly touch the heels of the person in front. It conveys the image of an endless, continuous stream of people moving in close succession, emphasizing both the sheer number and the tight density of the crowd.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom appears in Liang Qichao's 'On Reform: On Teacher Training' (变法通议·论师范), written during the late Qing dynasty's Hundred Days' Reform era. Liang Qichao, a leading scholar and reformist, used the phrase to describe the overwhelming number of academy heads and private tutors who dominated educational trends at the time. He paired it with '车载斗量' (countless as cartloads measured by the bushel) to emphasize their sheer abundance. A variant form '趾踵相错' carries the same meaning.
💡 Example Usage
节假日的景区里游客趾踵相接，几乎寸步难行。
During the holiday, tourists at the scenic spot were packed so tightly that even taking a single step was difficult.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 趾踵相接
- Pinyin: zhǐ zhǒng xiāng jiē
- Literal Translation: toe, heel, mutually, connect
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4