Dictionary › 草木皆兵

草木皆兵

cǎo mù jiē bīng

4-character word

What 草木皆兵 means

1. lit. every tree or bush an enemy soldier (idiom); fig. to panic and treat everyone as an enemy
2. to feel beleaguered

The characters in 草木皆兵

• 草cǎograss; straw; manuscript
• 木mù(bound form) tree; (bound form) wood; unresponsive; numb; wooden
• 皆jiēall; each and every; in all cases
• 兵bīngsoldiers; a force; an army

Example sentences

• 草木皆兵。
  Every bush and tree looks like an enemy.