| 芒刺在背 |
máng cì zài bèi |
feeling brambles and thorns in one's back (idiom) / uneasy and nervous / to be on pins and needles |
| 芒 |
máng |
awn (of cereals) / arista (of grain) / tip (of a blade) / Miscanthus sinensis (type of grass) / variant of 邙, Mt Mang at Luoyang in Henan |
| 刺 |
cī |
(onom.) whoosh |
| 刺 |
cì |
thorn / sting / thrust / to prick / to pierce / to stab / to assassinate / to murder |
| 在 |
zài |
to exist; to be alive / (of sb or sth) to be (located) at / (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 背 |
bēi |
variant of 背 |
| 背 |
bēi |
to be burdened / to carry on the back or shoulder |
| 背 |
bèi |
the back of a body or object / to turn one's back / to hide something from / to learn by heart / to recite from memory / unlucky (slang) / hard of hearing |