无孔不入

無孔不入
wúkǒngbúrù
idiom #34,751

Meanings

  1. 1 to seize every opportunity; to penetrate every crack
  2. 2 (often pejorative) to exploit every opening, however small

Examples

Piànzi wúkǒngbúrù, yídìng yào xiǎoxīn.
Con artists seize on every opening — you must be careful.
Guǎnggào zhēn shì wúkǒngbúrù, lián diàntī lǐ dōu yǒu.
Advertising really gets in everywhere — even in the elevators.
Bìngdú wúkǒngbúrù, wǒmen de xìtǒng bìxū gèngjiā jiāngù.
Malware exploits every opening, so our systems need to be more robust.

Tips

history
From Li Baojia's late-Qing novel 《现形》 (Officialdom Unmasked), chapter 35: 钻头无孔不入 — describing bribery-brokers who drill into every hole. The metaphor is of water or insects seeping through the tiniest gap.
usage
Almost always negative — describes rumors, scammers, advertising, surveillance, parasites. For the positive 'taking every chance,' use 抓住一个机会 instead.

Stroke Order

kǒng