DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

不是魚死就是網破

简不是鱼死就是网破 · 繁不是魚死就是網破

Mandarin · pinyin bù shì yú sǐ jiù shì wǎng pò

lit. either the fish dies or the net gets torn (idiom)
fig. it's a life-and-death struggle
it's either him or me

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
是: shì · indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that
魚: yú · fish; surname; Kangxi radical 195
死: sǐ · die; dead; death
就: jiù · just, simply; to come, go to; to approach, near
網: Look up this written character
破: pò · break, ruin, destroy; rout
鱼: yú · fish; surname; Kangxi radical 195
网: wǎng · net; network; Kangxi radical 122

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–4–2–3–4–4–3–4 · bu4 shi4 yu2 si3 jiu4 shi4 wang3 po4

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

不是魚死就是網破 · find source passages ↗ · 不是鱼死就是网破 · find source passages ↗

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