| 偷鸡不成蚀把米 |
tōu jī bù chéng shí bǎ mǐ |
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 |
| 偷 |
tōu |
to steal / to pilfer / to snatch / thief / stealthily |
| 鸡 |
jī |
fowl / chicken / CL:只 / (slang) prostitute |
| 鸡 |
jī |
variant of 鸡 |
| 不 |
bù |
no; not so / (bound form) not; un- |
| 不成 |
bù chéng |
won't do / unable to / (at the end of a rhetorical question) can that be? |
| 成 |
Chéng |
surname Cheng / short name for Chengdu 成都 |
| 成 |
chéng |
to succeed / to finish / to complete / to accomplish / to become / to turn into / to be all right / OK! / one tenth |
| 蚀 |
shí |
to nibble away at sth / to eat into / to erode |
| 把 |
bǎ |
to hold; to grasp / to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate / handlebar / classifier: handful, bundle, bunch / classifier for things with handles / (used to put the object before the verb: 把 + {noun} + {verb}) |
| 把 |
bà |
handle |
| 米 |
Mǐ |
surname Mi |
| 米 |
mǐ |
uncooked rice / meter (unit of length) / (slang) Chinese yuan |