刀枪 (dāoqiāng): sword and spear

Meanings

1 sword and spear
2 weapons (collectively)
3 arms

Characters

刀

Examples

战士们放下了刀枪。

Zhànshìmen fàngxiàle dāoqiāng.

The soldiers laid down their weapons.

他刀枪不入。

Tā dāoqiāng bù rù.

He is invulnerable to weapons (lit. blades and spears can't penetrate him).

Tips

culture

Listed by category — 刀 (single-edged saber) and 枪 (spear, the long polearm) are two of the 'four classical weapons' of Chinese martial arts (刀枪剑戟 dāo-qiāng-jiàn-jǐ). Modern 枪 also means 'gun', but in the compound 刀枪 the classical 'spear' sense survives. The set phrase 刀枪不入 ('impervious to blades and spears') describes someone unflappable or, literally, a martial-arts master.