弓上弦，刀出鞘
gōng​shàng​xián​dāo​chū​qiào

to be fully prepared

  • created sense approved 弓上弦，刀出鞘 · gōng​shàng​xián​dāo​chū​qiào · to be fully prepared — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    弓上弦，刀出鞘

    gōng​shàng​xián​dāo​chū​qiào

    to be fully prepared

    Literally means a bow with the arrow on the string and a sword drawn from its scabbard; it is used as a metaphor for being ready for battle or having made every preparation for an imminent action

    弓 (literal) → 弓 · gōng · bow 上弦 (literal) → 上弦 · shàng​xián · to string a bow ， (non_chinese) 刀 (literal) → 刀 · dāo · knife 出鞘 (literal) → 出鞘 · chū​qiào · to unsheathe

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense