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投鼠忌器

tóu shǔ jì qì

4-character word

What 投鼠忌器 means

1. lit. to refrain from shooting at the rat for fear of breaking the vases (idiom)
2. to not act against an evil so as to prevent harm to innocents

The characters in 投鼠忌器

• 投tóuto throw (sth in a specific direction: ball, javelin, grenade etc); to cast (a ballot)…
• 鼠shǔ(bound form) rat; mouse
• 忌jìto be jealous of; fear; dread
• 器qìdevice; tool; utensil

Go deeper

• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read tóu shǔ jì qì correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.