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杀手锏 (shā shǒu jiǎn) — trump card, secret weapon (figurative)

Definition

A figurative 'trump card' or hidden advantage kept for a decisive moment. Pairs with 亮出 (reveal), 使出 (play), or 当作 (treat as) — usually in competition, negotiation, or crisis contexts.

noun
trump cardsecret weapon (figurative)

Examples

  • ，杀手锏，。
    Zài tán pàn zhōng, tā zuì hòu shǐ chū le shā shǒu jiǎn, ràng duì fāng bù dé bú ràng bù.
    In the negotiation, he finally played his trump card, forcing the other side to concede.
  • 杀手锏，。
    Zhè ge gōng sī bǎ xīn jì shù dàng zuò shā shǒu jiǎn, xī wàng néng dǎ bài jìng zhēng duì shǒu.
    This company treats the new technology as its trump card, hoping to beat its competitors.
  • ，杀手锏。
    Bú dào guān jiàn shí kè, tā bú huì qīng yì liàng chū shā shǒu jiǎn.
    He won't easily reveal his trump card until the critical moment.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

杀手killer
杀shākill手shǒuperson
偏正Modifier + head
锏jiǎnmace

"杀手" (killer) and "锏" (mace) combine as a decisive hidden weapon.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 殺; 杀 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 殺 comes from an old drawing of a boar impaled in the head, with 人 and 又 added to show a person doing the killing; the simplified 杀 is a later abbreviation.

Open 杀 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in
Idioms & Set Phrases

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