tōu​jī​bù​zháo​shí​bǎ​mǐ

to go for wool and come back shorn

Senses

偷鸡不着蚀把米/ 偷雞不著蝕把米 tōu​jī​bù​zháo​shí​bǎ​mǐ to go for wool and come back shorn

To try to gain an advantage only to end up worse off; literally to try to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice used to lure it.

References

variant 偷鸡不着蚀把米/偷雞不著蝕把米 偷鸡不着反折一把米/偷雞不著反折一把米