拉下马

拉下馬

lāxiàmǎ

idiom #31,783

Meanings

1 to drag someone off their horse (fig.)
2 to bring down a person in power
3 to oust from office

Characters

Examples

只要敢下手，皇帝也能拉下马。

Zhǐyào gǎn xiàshǒu, huángdì yě néng lāxiàmǎ.

If you dare go through with it, you can pull even an emperor off his horse.

反腐运动中，不少高官被拉下马。

Fǎnfǔ yùndòng zhōng, bùshǎo gāoguān bèi lāxiàmǎ.

During the anti-corruption campaign, plenty of senior officials were brought down.

他们联合起来，终于把那个市长拉下马。

Tāmen liánhé qǐlái, zhōngyú bǎ nàge shìzhǎng lāxiàmǎ.

They joined forces and in the end succeeded in ousting the mayor.

Tips

culture

The saying 舍得一身剐，敢把皇帝拉下马 (willing to be hacked to bits, you dare pull the emperor off his horse) gives this phrase its revolutionary edge. Common in modern political reporting.

Stroke Order

拉 lā

下 xià

马 mǎ