qióng​shǔ​niè​lí

a person at bay will fight back

  • created sense approved 穷鼠啮狸/窮鼠嚙狸 · qióng​shǔ​niè​lí · a person at bay will fight back — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    穷鼠啮狸 / 窮鼠嚙狸

    qióng​shǔ​niè​lí

    a person at bay will fight back

    literally meaning a cornered rat will bite a fox; used to describe how a person driven to desperation will put up a fierce fight.

    穷 (literal) → 穷/窮 · qióng · hard-pressed 鼠 (literal) → 鼠 · shǔ · rat 啮 (literal) → 啮/齧 · niè · to gnaw 狸 (literal) → 狸 · lí · raccoon dog

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

    created sense