拉下马

拉下馬
lāxiàmǎ
idiom #31,783

Meanings

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

Examples

Zhǐyào gǎn xiàshǒu, huángdì yě néng lāxiàmǎ.
If you dare go through with it, you can pull even an emperor off his horse.
Fǎnfǔ yùndòng zhōng, bùshǎo gāoguān bèi lāxiàmǎ.
During the anti-corruption campaign, plenty of senior officials were brought down.
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

xià