竜りゅう虎こ相あい打うつ

Meanings

a fight between equally great opponents; dragon and tiger fighting one another

Idiomatic expression likening a fierce, evenly matched contest to a battle between a dragon and a tiger. Often used in literary or dramatic contexts.

両りょう雄ゆうの戦たたかいはまさに竜りゅう虎こ相あい打うつという言こと葉ばがふさわしい。
The battle between the two great rivals is truly worthy of the phrase 'dragon and tiger fighting one another'.

Kanji

竜dragon, imperial
虎tiger, drunkard
相inter-, mutual, together
打strike, hit, knock
搏seize, spring upon, strike
龍dragon, imperial

Built from

竜りゅう虎こ+相あい打うつ

Written forms

竜りゅう虎こ相あい打うつ
Standard modern kanji form for this idiomatic expression.
竜りゅう虎こ相あい搏うつ
Variant using 搏つ (to strike), less common than 打つ.
龍りゅう虎こ相あい打うつ
out-dated kanji form
Uses the older 龍 form of 竜; it is containing out-dated kanji.

Etymology

A classical Chinese-derived four-character idiom (四字熟語) composed of 竜 (dragon), 虎 (tiger), 相 (mutually), and 打つ (to strike/fight). The exact historical origin is uncertain, but it draws on the traditional symbolism of dragons and tigers as powerful, evenly matched creatures.