The Chinese idiom "手无寸铁" (shǒu wú cùn tiě) is formed through a vivid, literal-to-figurative construction: the first two characters, "手无," mean "hands without," and the last two, "寸铁," mean "an inch of iron," where "寸" (cùn, an inch) signifies something very small and "铁" (tiě, iron) metaphorically represents a weapon. Thus, the phrase literally paints the image of "hands without even a small metal weapon," which evolved figuratively to describe a person who is completely unarmed, defenseless, or lacking any means of resistance in a confrontation.