📖 Meaning
To carry a rifle with loaded ammunition; fully armed and ready for combat. The idiom describes someone in a state of complete military preparedness, weapon in hand and ready to fight at a moment's notice.
📜 Origin Story
This is a modern literary idiom coined by the writer Jun Qing (峻青) in his mid-20th century work 'Li Jiabu in Battle' (《李家埠在战斗》). The original passage describes arriving at a village entrance and seeing young militiamen patrolling along the defensive wall, rifles shouldered and ammunition loaded. It reflects the militia defense culture of wartime China, where villages maintained armed readiness against enemy incursions.
💡 Example Usage
边防战士荷枪实弹，日夜守卫着祖国的边境线。
The border guards, rifles loaded, stood watch day and night defending the country's frontier.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 荷枪实弹
- Pinyin: hé qiāng shí dàn
- Literal Translation: shoulder, gun, loaded, bullet
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4