Dictionary › 杀鸡儆猴

杀鸡儆猴

shā jī jǐng hóu

4-character word Traditional 殺雞儆猴

What 杀鸡儆猴 means

1. (lit.) to kill the chicken to warn the monkey (idiom)
2. (fig.) to punish an individual as an example to others

The characters in 杀鸡儆猴

• 杀shāto kill; to slay; to murder; to attack; to weaken; to reduce; (dialect) to smart
• 鸡jīfowl; chicken; (slang) prostitute
• 儆jǐngto warn; to admonish
• 猴hóumonkey

Go deeper

• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read shā jī jǐng hóu correctly.
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