燕子衔泥垒大窝

the swallow's nest is built one beakful of mud at a time (idiom) / many a little makes a mickle

Yan, a vassal state of Zhou in modern Hebei and Liaoning / north Hebei / the four Yan kingdoms of the Sixteen Kingdoms, namely: Former Yan 前燕[Qian2 Yan1] (337-370), Later Yan 後燕|后燕[Hou4 Yan1] (384-409), Southern Yan 南燕[Nan2 Yan1] (398-410), Northern Yan 北燕[Bei3 Yan1] (409-436) / surname Yan

swallow (family Hirundinidae) / old variant of 宴[yan4]

variant of 燕[yan4]

swallow

son / child / seed / egg / small thing / 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.-1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the Rat / Viscount, fourth of five orders of nobility 五等爵位[wu3 deng3 jue2 wei4] / ancient Chinese compass point: 0° (north) / subsidiary / subordinate / sub-

(noun suffix)

variant of 銜|衔[xian2]

variant of 銜|衔[xian2]

bit (of a bridle) / to hold in the mouth / to harbor (feelings) / to link / to accept / rank / title

mud / clay / paste / pulp

restrained

rampart / base (in baseball) / to build with stones, bricks etc

see 大夫[dai4 fu5]

big; large; great / older (than another person) / eldest (as in 大姐[da4 jie3]) / greatly; freely; fully / (dialect) father / (dialect) uncle (father's brother)

nest / pit or hollow on the human body / lair / den / place / to harbor or shelter / to hold in check / to bend / classifier for litters and broods