DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

束手無策

简束手无策 · 繁束手無策

Mandarin · pinyin shù shǒu wú cè

lit. to have one's hands bound and be unable to do anything about it (idiom); fig. helpless in the face of a crisis

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Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

4–3–2–4 · shu4 shou3 wu2 ce4

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

cuk1 sau2 mou4 caak3

Cantonese word readings for 束手無策. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

cuk1 sau2 mou4 caak3

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

(idiomatic) to be at a loss what to do; to feel helpless in the face of some difficulty