以 子 之 矛，攻 子 之 盾

yǐ zǐ zhī máo , gōng zǐ zhī dùndictionary entry

lit. use sb's spear to attack his shield (idiom, derived from Han Feizi 韓非子|韩非子); turning a weapon against its owner / fig. to attack an opponent using his own devices / hoist with his own petard

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-761075c849ee2f8c. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

以子之矛，攻子之盾 以子之矛，攻子之盾 [yi3 zi3 zhi1 mao2 , gong1 zi3 zhi1 dun4] /lit. use sb's spear to attack his shield (idiom, derived from Han Feizi 韓非子|韩非子); turning a weapon against its owner/fig. to attack an opponent using his own devices/hoist with his own petard/

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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.