人 为 刀 俎，我 为 鱼 肉

rén wéi dāo zǔ , wǒ wéi yú ròudictionary entry

(lit.) to be the meat on sb's chopping block (idiom) / (fig.) to be at sb's mercy

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-795955b367a36eb2. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

人為刀俎，我為魚肉 人为刀俎，我为鱼肉 [ren2 wei2 dao1 zu3 , wo3 wei2 yu2 rou4] /(lit.) to be the meat on sb's chopping block (idiom)/(fig.) to be at sb's mercy/

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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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Other forms in these source records: 人為刀俎，我為魚肉

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.