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偷鸡不成蚀把米

tōu jī bù chéng shí bǎ mǐdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. to try to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice used to lure it (idiom) / fig. to try to gain an advantage only to end up worse off / to go for wool and come back shorn
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-f1427e99dcb78f69. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

偷雞不成蝕把米 偷鸡不成蚀把米 [tou1 ji1 bu4 cheng2 shi2 ba3 mi3] /lit. to try to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice used to lure it (idiom)/fig. to try to gain an advantage only to end up worse off/to go for wool and come back shorn/

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: 偷雞不成蝕把米

  • 偷
    tōu

    to steal / (bound form) thief / (bound form) secretly / on the sly

  • 鸡
    jī

    fowl / chicken / CL:隻|只[zhī] / (slang) prostitute

  • 不
    bù

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

  • 成
    chéng

    to succeed / to finish / to complete / to accomplish / to become / to turn into / to be all right / OK! / one tenth

    Chéng

    surname Cheng / short name for Chengdu 成都[Chéng dū]

  • 蚀
    shí

    to nibble away at sth / to eat into / to erode

  • 把
    bǎ

    to hold / to grasp / to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate / handlebar / classifier: handful, bundle, bunch / classifier for things with handles / (used to put the object before the verb: 把[bǎ] + {noun} + {verb})

    bà

    handle

  • 米
    mǐ

    uncooked rice / meter (unit of length) / (slang) Chinese yuan

    Mǐ

    surname Mi

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.