鸡头

雞頭

jītóu

noun #28,197

Meanings

1 chicken head
2 (figuratively) the leader of a small group (as in the idiom: better a rooster's head than a phoenix's tail)

Nìng zuò jītóu, bù zuò fèngwěi.

Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix.

Tā nìngyuàn zài xiǎo gōngsī dāng jītóu, yě bùyuàn zài dà gōngsī dāng wúmíng xiǎozú.

He'd rather be a big fish in a small pond than a nobody at a large company.

culture

鸡头 is most famous from the idiom 宁做鸡头，不做凤尾, meaning it's better to lead a small group than to be an insignificant member of a prestigious one.

鸡 jī

头 tóu