按兵不动 meaning in English
halt the troops and wait; keep [remain] quiet; be on the alert, but make no move; bide one's time; hold one's troops where they are; hold the dogs of war in leash; keep an army back from battle; keep the troops immobilized; keep the troops in readiness, but do not send them into action; make no move; not to throw the troops into battle; remain inactive; rest one's men for a time; station the troops (and wait for a right time to strike); stop the advance of an army; take no action; the army was halted and did not march.: 按兵不动, 等待时机 not to move till the right moment; halt the troops and wait; keep quiet for waiting for a good chance; station one's troops and wait for the right moment; hold in check the pugnacity of our men until such a time as could be to our better advantage to strike; hold one's troops temporarily in leash for more effective action later; 红军按兵不动, 伺机发动反击。 the red army bided their time to launch a counterattack
Examples
- If napoleon had not remained inactive
如果不是拿破仑按兵不动，那将会怎样呢？ - If murat had not lost sight of the russians
如果不是拿破仑按兵不动，那将会怎样呢？ - Even so , the trustbusters should stay their hand
尽管如此，反托拉斯者应该按兵不动。 - I ordered the myrmidons to stand down . you led them into combat
我要求他们按兵不动,你却让他们战斗 - It would have been easy for her to lie low the rest of her life
她的馀生原本可以很容易一直按兵不动下去。