投膏止火
tóu​gāo​zhǐ​huǒ

backfire; make a situation worse

  • created sense approved 投膏止火 · tóu​gāo​zhǐ​huǒ · backfire; make a situation worse — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    投膏止火

    tóu​gāo​zhǐ​huǒ

    backfire; make a situation worse

    Trying to stop a fire by pouring oil on it, used as a metaphor for an inappropriate action that only makes a situation worse; to backfire; to fuel the flames

    投 (literal) → 投 · tóu · to throw 膏 (literal) → 膏 · gāo · fat 止 (literal) → 止 · zhǐ · to suppress 火 (literal) → 火 · huǒ · fire

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

    created sense