打 蛇 不 死，反 受 其 害

dǎ shé bù sǐ , fǎn shòu qí hàidictionary entry

(proverb) if you deal with a threat but fail to eliminate it, it may come back to harm you

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-09bd6648d4b24d2f. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

打蛇不死，反受其害 打蛇不死，反受其害 [da3 she2 bu4 si3 , fan3 shou4 qi2 hai4] /(proverb) if you deal with a threat but fail to eliminate it, it may come back to harm you/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

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Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.