借刀杀人

Traditional: 借刀殺人

jiè dāo shā rén

Dictionary entry

to lend sb a knife to kill sb

What does 借刀杀人 mean?

借刀杀人 (jiè dāo shā rén) has the following dictionary meaning.

1to lend sb a knife to kill sb

2to get sb else to do one's dirty work

3to attack using the strength of another (idiom)

Character breakdown

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借jièto borrow · (used in combination with 給|给[gei3] or 出[chu1] etc) to lend 刀Dāosurname Dao 杀shāto kill; to slay; to murder; to attack · to weaken; to reduce 人rénperson; people · CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2]

Reviewed examples

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How to pronounce 借刀杀人

借刀杀人

jiè dāo shā rén

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Base dictionary data: CC-CEDICT · CC BY-SA 4.0.