摩拳擦掌 — Chinese idiom

Meaning

• fig. to rub one's fists and wipe one's palms
• to roll up one's sleeves for battle
• eager to get into action or start on a task

Character by character

• 摩móto scour, to rub, to grind; friction
• 拳quánfist; various forms of boxing
• 擦cāto clean, to erase, to polish; a brush
• 掌zhǎngin charge; the palm of the hand, the sole of the f

Idioms sharing a character

• 摩顶放踵 mó dǐng fàng zhǒng
• 拳打脚踢 quán dǎ jiǎo tī
• 花拳绣腿 huā quán xiù tuǐ
• 赤手空拳 chì shǒu kōng quán
• 挨肩擦背 āi jiān cā bèi
• 擦亮眼睛 cā liàng yǎn jīng
• 了如指掌 liǎo rú zhǐ zhǎng
• 掌上明珠 zhǎng shàng míng zhū
• 掌声雷动 zhǎng shēng léi dòng
• 易如反掌 yì rú fǎn zhǎng

Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3). Retrieved 2026-10-22.