以 邻 为 壑

yǐ lín wéi hèdictionary entry

to use one's neighbor as a drain / to shift one's problems onto others (idiom)

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-aa1e096ccdcc8547. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

以鄰為壑 以邻为壑 [yi3 lin2 wei2 he4] /to use one's neighbor as a drain/to shift one's problems onto others (idiom)/

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: 以鄰為壑

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]
邻
lín
neighbor / adjacent / close to
为
wéi
as (in the capacity of) / to take sth as / to act as / to serve as / to behave as / to become / to be / to do / by (in the passive voice)
wèi
because of / for / to
壑
hè
gully / ravine / Taiwan pr. [huò]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.