打草惊蛇

lit. beat the grass to scare the snake (idiom) / fig. to inadvertently alert an enemy / to punish sb as a warning to others

dozen (loanword)

to beat / to strike / to hit / to break / to type / to mix up / to build / to fight / to fetch / to make / to tie up / to issue / to shoot / to calculate / to play (a game) / since / from

variant of 蛇[she2]

snake / serpent / CL:條|条[tiao2]

variant of 草[cao3]

grass / straw / manuscript / draft (of a document) / careless / rough / CL:棵[ke1],撮[zuo3],株[zhu1],根[gen1]

variant of 肏[cao4]

to startle / to be frightened / to be scared / alarm

to mow grass / haymaking / to write a rough draft (of an essay etc)