以眼還眼,以牙還牙

简 以眼还眼,以牙还牙 · 繁 以眼還眼,以牙還牙
Mandarin · pinyin yǐ yǎn huán yǎn , yǐ yá huán yá

Meanings

  1. an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth (idiom)
  2. fig. to use the enemy's methods against him
  3. 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
牙
yá · tooth, molars, teeth; serrated
还
hái · still, yet, also, besides
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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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.

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以眼還眼,以牙還牙 · yi3 yan3 huan2 yan3 , yi3 ya2 huan2 ya2
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 6,521
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record以眼還眼,以牙還牙 以眼还眼,以牙还牙 [yi3 yan3 huan2 yan3 , yi3 ya2 huan2 ya2] /an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth (idiom)/fig. to use the enemy's methods against him/to give sb a taste of his own medicine/