以 牙 还 牙

yǐ yá huán yádictionary entry

a tooth for a tooth (retaliation)

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-27237c4d5b717288. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

以牙還牙以牙还牙 [yi3 ya2 huan2 ya2] /a tooth for a tooth (retaliation)/

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

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 以牙還牙

以
yǐ
to use / by means of / according to / in order to / because of / at (a certain date or place)
Yǐ
abbr. for Israel 以色列[Yǐ sè liè]
牙
yá
tooth / ivory / CL:顆|颗[kē]
还
hái
still / still in progress / still more / yet / even more / in addition / fairly / passably (good) / as early as / even / also / else
huán
to pay back / to return
Huán
surname Huan
牙
yá
tooth / ivory / CL:顆|颗[kē]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.