敲山震虎
qiāo​shān​zhèn​hǔ

to show strength as a warning

  • created sense approved 敲山震虎 · qiāo​shān​zhèn​hǔ · to show strength as a warning — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    敲山震虎

    qiāo​shān​zhèn​hǔ

    to show strength as a warning

    To beat on the mountain to scare the tiger; refers to a deliberate show of strength meant to warn or intimidate an opponent, or to provoke a hidden enemy into revealing themselves.

    敲 (literal) → 敲 · qiāo · to knock 山 (literal) → 山 · shān · mountain 震 (literal) → 震 · zhèn · to shake 虎 (literal) → 虎 · hǔ · tiger

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

    created sense