卸 磨 杀 驴

xiè mò shā lǘdictionary entry

lit. to kill the donkey when the grinding is done (idiom) / fig. to get rid of sb once he has ceased to be useful

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-f0243ace159d6f8a. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

卸磨殺驢 卸磨杀驴 [xie4 mo4 sha1 lu:2] /lit. to kill the donkey when the grinding is done (idiom)/fig. to get rid of sb once he has ceased to be useful/

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: 卸磨殺驢

卸
xiè
to unload / to remove / to detach / to get rid of
磨
mó
to rub / to grind / to polish / to sharpen / to wear down / to die out / to waste time / to pester / to insist
mò
grindstone / to grind / to turn round
杀
shā
to kill / to slay / to murder / to attack / to weaken / to reduce / (dialect) to smart / (used after a verb) extremely
驴
lǘ
donkey / CL:頭|头[tóu]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.