杯弓蛇影

lit. to see a bow reflected in a cup as a snake (idiom); fig. unnecessary suspicions / overly fearful

Characters and words in 杯弓蛇影

cup / trophy cup / classifier for certain containers of liquids: glass, cup

= + : Beelzebub (b) won a trophy cup (杯) for his amazing Christmas tree (木). Actually, it was forbidden to log trees in front of the Eiffel Tower (ei1); but Beelzebub didn't care and took the tree anyway. He even took the forbidden sign (不) as well, and as he receives his trophy cup he uses the forbidden sign as a tablet to put the trophy cup on.
variant of 杯[bei1]

= + : Beelzebub (b) won a trophy cup (杯) for his amazing Christmas tree (木). Actually, it was forbidden to log trees in front of the Eiffel Tower (ei1); but Beelzebub didn't care and took the tree anyway. He even took the forbidden sign (不) as well, and as he receives his trophy cup he uses the forbidden sign as a tablet to put the trophy cup on.
variant of 杯[bei1] / trophy cup / classifier for certain containers of liquids: glass, cup

= + : Beelzebub (b) won a trophy cup (杯) for his amazing Christmas tree (木). Actually, it was forbidden to log trees in front of the Eiffel Tower (ei1); but Beelzebub didn't care and took the tree anyway. He even took the forbidden sign (不) as well, and as he receives his trophy cup he uses the forbidden sign as a tablet to put the trophy cup on.
a bow (weapon) / CL:張|张[zhang1] / to bend / to arch (one's back etc)

Mnemonic symbol: this character just looks like a composite bow.

Gitta Giraffe (gu) is shooting arrows with a composite bow (弓) in front of the engine ((e)ng1).
variant of 蛇[she2]
snake / serpent / CL:條|条[tiao2]

= + : Sherlock Holmes (sh) is investigating the death of a mosquito (虫) in the elevator's kitchen (e2). He took a blood sample from the mosquito and analyzes it with his computer (它). It turns out that the mosquito stung the venomous snake (蛇) which is sleeping across the hall, and the venom killed the mosquito.
picture / image / film / movie / photograph / reflection / shadow / trace

= + : Maud Younger (y) wants to watch a movie (影) inside of the engine ((e)ng3), but only men are allowed. She doesn't bounce back but instead, being a suffragist, puts on a long, fake Santa beard (彡). She enters to find that the whole movie consists of a still frame of a bonsai tree, a landscape in a pot. Back in the days, the script writers were not so experienced it seems.

Words with 杯弓蛇影

杯弓蛇影 is not used as a component in another word.

Sentences with 杯弓蛇影

杯弓蛇影 currently does not appear in any sentence.