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不是鱼死就是网破

bù shì yú sǐ jiù shì wǎng pòdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. either the fish dies or the net gets torn (idiom) / fig. it's a life-and-death struggle / it's either him or me
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-d599036f0aca01f6. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

不是魚死就是網破 不是鱼死就是网破 [bu4 shi4 yu2 si3 jiu4 shi4 wang3 po4] /lit. either the fish dies or the net gets torn (idiom)/fig. it's a life-and-death struggle/it's either him or me/

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: 不是魚死就是網破

  • 不
    bù

    no / not so / (bound form) not / un-

  • 是
    shì

    to be (followed by substantives only) / correct / right / true / (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well / (adverb for emphatic assertion)

  • 鱼
    yú

    fish (CL:條|条[tiáo],尾[wěi]) / used in the names of various aquatic animals that are not fish (including abalone 鮑魚|鲍鱼[bào yú], alligators and crocodiles 鱷魚|鳄鱼[è yú] and octopi 章魚|章鱼[zhāng yú])

    Yú

    surname Yu

  • 死
    sǐ

    to die / impassable / uncrossable / inflexible / rigid / extremely / damned

  • 就
    jiù

    (after a suppositional clause) in that case / then / (after a clause of action) as soon as / immediately after / (same as 就是[jiù shì]) merely / nothing else but / simply / just / precisely / exactly / only / as little as / as much as / as many as / to approach / to move towards / to undertake / to engage in / (often followed by 著|着[zhe]) taking advantage of / (of food) to go with / with regard to / concerning / (bound form) to reach / to attain (as in 一蹴而就[yī cù ér jiù]) / (pattern: 就[jiù] ... 也[yě] ...) even if ... still ... / (pattern: 不[bù] ... 就[jiù] ...) if not ... then must be ...

  • 是
    shì

    to be (followed by substantives only) / correct / right / true / (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well / (adverb for emphatic assertion)

  • 网
    wǎng

    net / web / network / to net / to catch with a net

  • 破
    pò

    broken / damaged / worn out / lousy / rotten / to break, split or cleave / to get rid of / to destroy / to break with / to defeat / to capture (a city etc) / to expose the truth of

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.