苦く肉にく

noun

self-inflicted pain; hurting oneself (to deceive an opponent)

Rarely used alone; almost exclusively appears in the idiom 苦肉の策 (a desperate measure born of self-sacrifice or a painful choice). The literal sense of 'hurting oneself to trick an adversary' is historical/strategic.

See also: 苦肉の策

• 「苦く肉にくの策さく」という言こと葉ばは、自じ分ぶんを傷きずつけてでも相あい手てを欺あざむく苦くるしい手しゅ段だんを指さす。

  The phrase 苦肉の策 refers to a painful measure in which one would even hurt oneself to deceive the opponent.