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束手无策

shù shǒu wú cè

helpless; at a loss what to do

Character by character

束shù
bind
手shǒu
hands
无wú
no
策cè
plan

Example

面对这种怪病,医生们也束手无策。
Faced with this strange illness, even the doctors were at a loss.

Tone: neutral.

Usage and origin

Hands tied with no plan; often 连…也束手无策.

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