偷雞不成蝕把米
简 偷鸡不成蚀把米 · 繁 偷雞不成蝕把米Meanings
- lit. to try to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice used to lure it (idiom)
- fig. to try to gain an advantage only to end up worse off
- to go for wool and come back shorn
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Mandarin tones
1–1–4–2–2–3–3 · tou1 ji1 bu4 cheng2 shi2 ba3 mi3
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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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.
偷雞不成蝕把米 · find source passages ↗ · 偷鸡不成蚀把米 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
tau1 gai1 bat1 sing4 sik6 baa2 mai5
Cantonese word readings for 偷雞不成蝕把米. 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 try to gain an advantage, only to end up worse off and suffer losses
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack