tōu​jī​bù​chéng​shí​bǎ​mǐ

to suffer a loss instead of making a gain

Senses

偷鸡不成蚀把米/ 偷雞不成蝕把米 tōu​jī​bù​chéng​shí​bǎ​mǐ to suffer a loss instead of making a gain

literally meaning to try to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice used to lure it; used to describe trying to gain an advantage but ending up worse off

References

No references for this word.