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以毒攻毒

yǐdú-gōngdú
idiom #33,440

Meanings

  1. 1 fight poison with poison
  2. 2 fight fire with fire
  3. 3 set a thief to catch a thief
  4. 4 use the same evil tactics against an evil opponent

Examples

HSK 7-9
中医有以毒攻毒的疗法。
Zhōngyī yǒu yǐdú-gōngdú de liáofǎ.
Traditional Chinese medicine has 'fight poison with poison' treatments.
HSK 7-9
对付黑客只能以毒攻毒。
Duìfu hēikè zhǐnéng yǐdú-gōngdú.
The only way to deal with hackers is to fight fire with fire.

Tips

history
First recorded in Tao Zongyi's late-Yuan miscellany 《辍耕录》, describing 骨咄犀, a horn-like substance considered extremely poisonous yet able to neutralize other poisons: its nature is utterly poisonous, yet it can cure poison; this is what is meant by fighting poison with poison. Originally a TCM principle, now used metaphorically for any 'fight evil with evil' tactic.
usage
Often carries a hint of grim necessity - you reach for 以毒攻毒 when nicer methods have failed. Compare English 'fight fire with fire'.

Stroke Order

以 yǐ
毒 dú
攻 gōng