不是鱼死就是网破
bù​shì​yú​sǐ​jiù​shì​wǎng​pò

a life-and-death struggle

  • created reference approved 不是鱼死就是网破/不是魚死就是網破 → 鱼死网破/魚死網破 (see) — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    不是鱼死就是网破 / 不是魚死就是網破 bù​shì​yú​sǐ​jiù​shì​wǎng​pò

    鱼死网破 / 魚死網破 yú​sǐ​wǎng​pò

    see

    Changed: source (simp), source (trad), source pinyin, target (simp), target (trad), target pinyin, type

    created reference

  • created sense approved 不是鱼死就是网破/不是魚死就是網破 · bù​shì​yú​sǐ​jiù​shì​wǎng​pò · a life-and-death struggle — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    不是鱼死就是网破 / 不是魚死就是網破

    bù​shì​yú​sǐ​jiù​shì​wǎng​pò

    a life-and-death struggle

    Literally "either the fish dies or the net gets torn"; describes a situation where two sides fight so fiercely that one must be destroyed.

    不是 (literal) → 不是 · bù​shì · no 鱼 (literal) → 鱼/魚 · yú · fish 死 (literal) → 死 · sǐ · to die 就是 (literal) → 就是 · jiù​shì · [emphasis] 网 (literal) → 网/網 · wǎng · net 破 (literal) → 破 · pò · to break

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense