投鼠忌器
tóu​shǔ​jì​qì

to hesitate for fear of unintended harm

  • created reference approved 投鼠忌器 → 掷鼠忌器/擲鼠忌器 (variant) — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    投鼠忌器 tóu​shǔ​jì​qì

    掷鼠忌器 / 擲鼠忌器 zhì​shǔ​jì​qì

    variant

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

    created reference

  • created sense approved 投鼠忌器 · tóu​shǔ​jì​qì · to hesitate for fear of unintended harm — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    投鼠忌器

    tóu​shǔ​jì​qì

    to hesitate for fear of unintended harm

    To refrain from taking action against an evil person or problem because of the risk of harming innocent people or valuable things nearby; literally to hesitate at throwing something at a rat for fear of breaking the vase it is next to.

    投 (literal) → 投 · tóu · to throw 鼠 (literal) → 鼠 · shǔ · rat 忌 (literal) → 忌 · jì · to fear 器 (literal) → 器 · qì · utensil

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

    created sense