手无寸铁

手無寸鐵

shǒuwú-cùntiě

idiom #14,254

Meanings

1 unarmed
2 defenseless
3 completely without weapons

Characters

Examples

警察对手无寸铁的平民开了枪。

Jǐngchá duìshǒu wú cùn tiě de píngmín kāi le qiāng.

The police fired at unarmed civilians.

他手无寸铁，根本无法反抗。

Tā shǒuwúcùntiě, gēnběn wúfǎ fǎnkàng.

He was completely unarmed and had no way to resist.

Tips

memory

手 (hand) 无 (without) 寸 (an inch of) 铁 (iron/steel) — hands without even an inch of steel, i.e. totally unarmed.

Stroke Order

手 shǒu

无 wú

寸 cùn

铁 tiě