缩手缩脚

縮手縮腳
suōshǒusuōjiǎo
bound hand and foot (idiom); constrained

CEDICT

  1. (figurative) to be overcautious and constrained
  2. to be overcautious and constrained
  3. to curl up one's limbs (due to the cold)

Wiktionary

  1. 天寒肢体不舒展的样子。
  2. 形容畏怯退缩，不敢放手去做。如：「你再这样缩手缩脚，谁也不会帮忙你。」也作「逼手逼脚」。

重編國語辭典

Entry Composition

1 缩手 suōshǒu
  1. to draw back one's hand
  2. to shrink from doing something
2 缩 suō
  1. to withdraw
  2. to pull back
  3. to contract
  4. to shrink
  5. to reduce
  6. abbreviation
  7. also pr. sù
3 脚 jiǎo
  1. foot
  2. leg (of an animal or an object)
  3. base (of an object)
  4. classifier for kicks

classifiers: 雙, 隻