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瓮中捉鳖

甕中捉鱉
wèngzhōngzhuōbiē
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 to catch a turtle in a jar
  2. 2 to go after easy prey
  3. 3 a sure thing; in the bag

Examples

敌人已被包围，抓他们简直是瓮中捉鳖。
Dírén yǐ bèi bāowéi, zhuā tāmen jiǎnzhí shì wèngzhōngzhuōbiē.
The enemy is surrounded — catching them is like grabbing a turtle in a jar.
警察布好了网，对嫌犯来说就是瓮中捉鳖。
Jǐngchá bù hǎo le wǎng, duì xiánfàn láishuō jiùshì wèngzhōngzhuōbiē.
The police laid a net — for the suspect, it was a sure capture.
比赛进入最后一分钟，胜利已是瓮中捉鳖。
Bǐsài jìnrù zuìhòu yī fēnzhōng, shènglì yǐ shì wèngzhōngzhuōbiē.
Going into the final minute, victory was already in the bag.

Tips

history
From the Yuan-dynasty zaju play 李逵负荆 by Kang Jinzhi: 这是揉着我山儿的痒处，管教他瓮中捉鳖，手到拿来 — once a turtle is dropped into a jar, scooping it out is trivial.

Stroke Order

瓮 wèng
中 zhōng
捉 zhuō
鳖 biē