盾牌 (dùn pái) — shield (protective armor); pretext, excuse (figurative)
Definition
Literally a shield used for physical defense; figuratively, any excuse or pretext used to deflect blame or criticism. The figurative sense is the one you'll usually meet in reading.
noun
shield (protective armor)pretextexcuse (figurative)
Measure word · 面
Examples
- 盾牌。Tā ná qǐ dùn pái bǎo hù zì jǐ.He picked up a shield to protect himself.
- 盾牌。Tā zhǎo le yí gè dùn pái lái yǎn gài zì jǐ de cuò wù.He found a pretext to cover up his own mistake.
- 盾牌。Nà xiē huà zhǐ shì tā yòng lái tuō yán shí jiān de dùn pái.Those words were just a pretext he used to buy time.
Appears in
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