借刀殺人
jiè​dāo​shā​rén

to get someone else to do one's dirty work

  • created sense approved 借刀杀人/借刀殺人 · jiè​dāo​shā​rén · to get someone else to do one's dirty work — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    借刀杀人 / 借刀殺人

    jiè​dāo​shā​rén

    to get someone else to do one's dirty work

    To harm or destroy someone by using a third party, often to avoid getting one's own hands dirty or to take advantage of an existing conflict.

    借 (literal) → 借 · jiè · to make use of 刀 (literal) → 刀 · dāo · knife 杀人 (literal) → 杀人/殺人 · shā​rén · to kill someone

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

    created sense