以毒攻毒

Chinese

		to use; according to; so as to to use; according to; so as to; in order to; by; with; because; Israel (abbrev.)	poison; narcotics	to attack; to accuse; to study	poison; narcotics
trad. (以毒攻毒)		以	毒	攻	毒
simp. #(以毒攻毒)		以	毒	攻	毒
Literally: “to attack poison with poison”.

Etymology

Originally referring to a theory in Chinese medicine by using a more poisonous substance to suppress the poison.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yǐdúgōngdú

  (Zhuyin): ㄧˇ ㄉㄨˊ ㄍㄨㄥ ㄉㄨˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ji⁵ duk⁶ gung¹ duk⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yǐdúgōngdú
    • Zhuyin: ㄧˇ ㄉㄨˊ ㄍㄨㄥ ㄉㄨˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yǐdúgongdú
    • Wade–Giles: i³-tu²-kung¹-tu²
    • Yale: yǐ-dú-gūng-dú
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yiidwugongdwu
    • Palladius: идугунду (idugundu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i²¹⁴⁻²¹ tu³⁵ kʊŋ⁵⁵ tu³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ji⁵ duk⁶ gung¹ duk⁶
    • Yale: yíh duhk gūng duhk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ji⁵ duk⁹ gung¹ duk⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yi⁵ dug⁶ gung¹ dug⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiː¹³ tʊk̚² kʊŋ⁵⁵ tʊk̚²/

Idiom

以毒攻毒

1. to fight fire with fire