Dictionary › 快刀斩乱麻

快刀斩乱麻

kuài dāo zhǎn luàn má

5-character word Traditional 快刀斬亂麻

What 快刀斩乱麻 means

1. lit. quick sword cuts through tangled hemp (idiom); decisive action in a complex situation
2. cutting the Gordian knot

The characters in 快刀斩乱麻

• 快kuàirapid; quick; speed
• 刀dāoknife; blade; single-edged sword; cutlass; (slang; loanword) dollar…
• 斩zhǎnto behead (as form of capital punishment); to chop
• 乱luànin confusion or disorder; in a confused state of mind; disorder
• 麻máhemp (variant of 麻

Go deeper

• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read kuài dāo zhǎn luàn má correctly.
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