兩虎相爭,必有一傷

简 两虎相争,必有一伤 · 繁 兩虎相爭,必有一傷
Mandarin · pinyin liǎng hǔ xiāng zhēng , bì yǒu yī shāng

Meanings

  1. (lit.) if two tigers fight, one will get injured (idiom)
  2. (fig.) if you start a war, someone is bound to get hurt
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Characters in this entry

兩
liǎng · two, both, pair, couple; ounce
虎
hǔ · tiger; brave, fierce; surname
相
xiāng · mutual, reciprocal, each other
爭
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必
bì · surely, most certainly; must
有
yǒu · have, own, possess; exist
一
yī · one; a, an; alone
傷
shāng · wound, injury; fall ill from
两
liǎng · two, both, pair, couple; ounce
争
zhēng · dispute, fight, contend, strive
伤
shāng · wound, injury; fall ill from
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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.

兩虎相爭,必有一傷 · find source passages ↗ · 两虎相争,必有一伤 · find source passages ↗

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兩虎相爭,必有一傷 · liang3 hu3 xiang1 zheng1 , bi4 you3 yi1 shang1
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 11,564
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record兩虎相爭,必有一傷 两虎相争,必有一伤 [liang3 hu3 xiang1 zheng1 , bi4 you3 yi1 shang1] /(lit.) if two tigers fight, one will get injured (idiom)/(fig.) if you start a war, someone is bound to get hurt/