📖 Meaning
Describes people fleeing in panic and terror, like startled birds and scurrying mice. It is used to depict a chaotic, frantic escape, often after a sudden shock or defeat. The phrase is equivalent to 鸟骇鼠窜.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom is a descriptive compound drawn from the behavior of small animals in nature—birds taking flight and rodents darting away at the slightest disturbance. While no single classical text is cited as its definitive source, such imagery of panicked flight appears throughout Chinese military and historical writing to convey the rout of defeated troops or the scattering of terrified people. It belongs to a family of similar idioms that use animal metaphors to depict cowardly or disordered retreat.
💡 Example Usage
敌军遭到伏击后鸟惊鼠窜，四处溃逃。
After being ambushed, the enemy troops fled in panic like startled birds and scurrying mice, scattering in all directions.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 鸟惊鼠窜
- Pinyin: niǎo jīng shǔ cuàn
- Literal Translation: birds, startled, mice, scurry
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4