竭泽而渔

竭澤而漁

jiézé'éryú

idiom #87,819

Meanings

1 to drain the pond to catch all the fish; to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs
2 to exhaust a resource for short-term gain

Characters

to exhaust; to drain

(classical conjunction) and so

Examples

HSK 5

对客户竭泽而渔的公司走不远。

Duì kèhù jiézé'éryú de gōngsī zǒu bù yuǎn.

Companies that squeeze every last drop from their customers won't last long.

HSK 7-9

过度开采就是竭泽而渔，终将毁掉整个行业。

Guòdù kāicǎi jiùshì jiézé'éryú, zhōngjiāng huǐdiào zhěnggè hángyè.

Over-mining is like draining the pond for fish. It will eventually ruin the entire industry.

Tips

history

From 《吕氏春秋·义赏》: 竭泽而渔，岂不获得？而明年无鱼 'drain the pond and you'll catch plenty; but there will be no fish next year.' Classical argument against short-sighted exploitation.

Stroke Order

竭 jié

泽 zé

而 ér

渔 yú