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借刀杀人

jiè dāo shā réndictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
to lend sb a knife to kill sb / to get sb else to do one's dirty work / to attack using the strength of another (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-b478c8923bede258. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

借刀殺人 借刀杀人 [jie4 dao1 sha1 ren2] /to lend sb a knife to kill sb/to get sb else to do one's dirty work/to attack using the strength of another (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: 借刀殺人

  • 借
    jiè

    to borrow / (used in combination with 給|给[gěi] or 出[chū] etc) to lend / to make use of / to avail oneself of / (sometimes followed by 著|着[zhe]) by / with

  • 刀
    dāo

    knife / blade / single-edged sword / cutlass (CL:把[bǎ]) / (slang) (loanword) dollar / classifier for sets of one hundred sheets (of paper) / classifier for knife cuts or stabs / (Internet slang) to bargain / to ask for a small discount (esp. on second-hand marketplaces) / (Internet slang) to knife (sb) (often used hyperbolically, as in 想刀他[xiǎng dāo tā] "I could kill him!")

    Dāo

    surname Dao

  • 杀
    shā

    to kill / to slay / to murder / to attack / to weaken / to reduce / (dialect) to smart / (used after a verb) extremely

  • 人

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.