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以眼還眼

简以眼还眼 · 繁以眼還眼

Mandarin · pinyin yǐ yǎn huán yǎn

an eye for an eye (idiom); fig. to use the enemy's methods against him
to give sb a taste of his own medicine

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Characters in this entry

以: yǐ · by means of; thereby, therefore; consider as; in order to
眼: yǎn · eye; eyelet, hole, opening
還: hái · still, yet, also, besides
还: hái · still, yet, also, besides

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–2–3 · yi3 yan3 huan2 yan3

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

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.

以眼還眼 · find source passages ↗ · 以眼还眼 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ji5 ngaan5 waan4 ngaan5

Cantonese word readings for 以眼還眼. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to take an eye for an eye

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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