qióng shǔ niè lí

Traditional: 窮鼠嚙狸

穷鼠啮狸 (qióng shǔ niè lí) is a Chinese word meaning “a desperate rat will bite the fox (idiom); the smallest worm will turn being trodden on”.

Meanings

  1. 1a desperate rat will bite the fox (idiom); the smallest worm will turn being trodden on

Characters in 穷鼠啮狸

穷qióng · poor鼠shǔ · (bound form) rat; mouse啮niè · to gnaw狸lí · (bound form) used in the names of small mammals

Related words

老鼠rat; mouse (CL:隻|只[zhi1])鼠(bound form) rat; mouse穷poor穷人poor people狐狸fox; (fig.) sly or crafty person松鼠squirrel贫穷poor海狸beaver无穷endless鼹鼠mole (zoology)袋鼠kangaroo鼠疫plague

Study Chinese with flashcards →