📖 Meaning
A metaphor describing an already powerful person or force that gains an additional advantage, becoming even more formidable and nearly unstoppable. It is equivalent to the more common idiom 如虎添翼 (like a tiger growing wings).
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Yuan Dynasty zaju play "Burning Bowang" (《博望烧屯》) by an anonymous author. In the first act, a character argues that if they can recruit the legendary strategist Zhuge Liang (Kongming) to serve as military advisor, then with fierce generals like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei already under their command, their army would be like a fierce tiger sprouting wings — an unstoppable force. The play dramatizes events from the Three Kingdoms period.
💡 Example Usage
他本就武艺高强，如今又得神兵相助，真是猛虎插翅。
He was already a master of martial arts, and now with a divine weapon in hand, he is truly a fierce tiger that has sprouted wings.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 猛虎插翅
- Pinyin: měng hǔ chā chì
- Literal Translation: fierce tiger, insert, wings
- Category: Power
- Characters: 4