对 症 下 药

duì zhèng xià yàodictionary entry

lit. to prescribe the right medicine for an illness (idiom) / fig. to study a problem to find the right way to solve it / to take appropriate steps

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-6968cc6f9518008c. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

對症下藥 对症下药 [dui4 zheng4 xia4 yao4] /lit. to prescribe the right medicine for an illness (idiom); fig. to study a problem to find the right way to solve it/to take appropriate steps/

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: 對症下藥

对
duì
right / correct / towards / at / for / concerning / regarding / to treat (sb a certain way) / to face / (bound form) opposite / facing / matching / to match together / to adjust / to fit / to suit / to answer / to reply / to add / to pour in (a fluid) / to check / to compare / classifier: couple / pair
症
zhèng
disease / illness
zhēng
abdominal tumor / bowel obstruction / (fig.) sticking point
下
xià
down / downwards / below / lower / later / next (week etc) / second (of two parts) / to decline / to go down / to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc) / measure word to show the frequency of an action
药
yào
leaf of the iris / medicine / drug / substance used for a specific purpose (e.g. poisoning, explosion, fermenting) / CL:種|种[zhǒng],服[fù],味[wèi] / to poison

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.