關門捉賊
guān​mén​zhuō​zéi

to catch a thief by closing his escape route

  • created sense approved 关门捉贼/關門捉賊 · guān​mén​zhuō​zéi · to catch a thief by closing his escape route — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    关门捉贼 / 關門捉賊

    guān​mén​zhuō​zéi

    to catch a thief by closing his escape route

    (idiom) To catch a thief by closing his escape route; specifically, to surround a small enemy force to prevent their escape and avoid a desperate counter-attack.

    关门 (literal) → 关门/關門 · guān​mén · to close the door 捉 (literal) → 捉 · zhuō · to catch 贼 (literal) → 贼/賊 · zéi · thief

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

    created sense