枕 戈 寝 甲

zhěn gē qǐn jiǎdictionary entry

lit. to sleep on one's armor with a spear as a pillow (idiom) / fig. to keep ready for battle at all times

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-ee960642340683f6. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

枕戈寢甲 枕戈寝甲 [zhen3 ge1 qin3 jia3] /lit. to sleep on one's armor with a spear as a pillow (idiom)/fig. to keep ready for battle at all times/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

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.

Other forms in these source records: 枕戈寢甲

枕
zhěn
(bound form) pillow / to rest one's head on (Taiwan pr. [zhèn])
戈
gē
dagger-axe / abbr. for 戈瑞[gē ruì] / (Tw) abbr. for 戈雷[gē léi]
Gē
surname Ge
寝
qǐn
(bound form) to lie down to sleep or rest / (bound form) bedroom / (bound form) imperial tomb / (literary) to stop / to cease
甲
jiǎ
first of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shí tiān gān] / (used for an unspecified person or thing) / first (in a list, as a party to a contract etc) / letter "A" or roman "I" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / armor plating / shell or carapace / (of the fingers or toes) nail / bladed leather or metal armor (old) / ranking system used in the Imperial examinations (old) / civil administration unit in the baojia 保甲[bǎo jiǎ] system (old) / ancient Chinese compass point: 75°

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.