披荆斩棘

Traditional: 披荊斬棘

pī jīng zhǎn jí

Dictionary entry

lit. to cut one's way through thistles and thorns (idiom)

What does 披荆斩棘 mean?

披荆斩棘 (pī jīng zhǎn jí) has the following dictionary meaning.

1lit. to cut one's way through thistles and thorns (idiom)

2fig. to overcome all obstacles on the way

3to break through hardships

4to blaze a new trail

Character breakdown

Open each character to see its own meanings and vocabulary links.

披pīto drape over one's shoulders · to open 荆Jīngan early name for the state of Chu 楚國|楚国[Chu3 guo2] · surname Jing 斩zhǎnto behead (as form of capital punishment) · to chop 棘jíthorns

Reviewed examples

No reviewed example dialogues yet. This page only shows verified dictionary data until a context lesson is published.

How to pronounce 披荆斩棘

披荆斩棘

pī jīng zhǎn jí

Tap to hear Mandarin.

Base dictionary data: CC-CEDICT · CC BY-SA 4.0.