图 穷 匕 见

tú qióng bǐ xiàndictionary entry

(lit.) the assassin's dagger, concealed in a map scroll, is suddenly revealed when the map is unrolled (referring to the attempted assassination of Ying Zheng 嬴政[Yíng Zhèng] by Jing Ke 荊軻|荆轲[Jīng Kē] in 227 BC) (idiom) / (fig.) malicious intent suddenly becomes apparent

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-b7d7c840a2c5bb47. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

圖窮匕見 图穷匕见 [tu2 qiong2 bi3 xian4] /(lit.) the assassin's dagger, concealed in a map scroll, is suddenly revealed when the map is unrolled (referring to the attempted assassination of Ying Zheng 嬴政[Ying2 Zheng4] by Jing Ke 荊軻|荆轲[Jing1 Ke1] in 227 BC) (idiom)/(fig.) malicious intent suddenly becomes apparent/

Source material and teaching drafts have separate provenance. Long-term commercial licensing remains under review.

Reference information

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

Character information

Other forms in these source records: 圖窮匕見

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

图穷匕见

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.