cǎo chuán jiè jiàndictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. using straw boats to borrow arrows (idiom, from 三國演義|三国演义[Sān guó Yǎn yì]) / fig. to use others' manpower and resources for one's own ends
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-87c35601383ba9fc. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

草船借箭 草船借箭 [cao3 chuan2 jie4 jian4] /lit. using straw boats to borrow arrows (idiom, from 三國演義|三国演义[San1 guo2 Yan3 yi4])/fig. to use others' manpower and resources for one's own ends/

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Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

草船借箭
Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.