"Thorns" • Chinese-English Dictionary
| 棘 |  jí | thorns |   |
| 荆棘 | jīng jí | thistles and thorns / brambles / thorny undergrowth | |
| 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 | |
| 五刑 | wǔ xíng | imperial five punishments of feudal China, up to Han times: tattooing characters on the forehead 墨[mo4], cutting off the nose 劓[yi4], amputation of one or both feet 刖[yue4], castration 宮|宫[gong1], execution 大辟[da4 pi4] / Han dynasty onwards: whipping 笞[chi1], beating the legs and buttocks with rough thorns 杖[zhang4], forced labor 徒[tu2], exile or banishment 流[liu2], capital punishment 死[si3] | |
| 披荆斩棘 | pī jīng zhǎn jí | lit. to cut one's way through thistles and thorns (idiom) / fig. to overcome all obstacles on the way / to break through hardships / to blaze a new trail | |
| 荆榛满目 | jīng zhēn mǎn mù | thorns and brambles as far as eye can see (idiom) / beset by troubles | |
| 食荼卧棘 | shí tú wò jí | to eat bitter fruit and lie on thorns (idiom) / to share the hard life of the common people | |
