have scruples about doing harm to bad people; hesitate to punish evil
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesidiom
to hesitate to act against evil for fear of causing collateral damage; to have scruples about punishing bad people for fear of harming the innocent
literaryThis idiom originates from the Book of Han (汉书), describing a situation where one wants to strike a rat but fears damaging the vessels nearby. It metaphorically describes the dilemma of wanting to punish wrongdoers while fearing harm to innocent parties or valuable things associated with them.
Duì对
fāng方
yǒu有
rén人
zhì质
zài在
shǒu手
，
jǐng警
fāng方
tóu投
shǔ鼠
jì忌
qì器
，
bù不
gǎn敢
qiáng强
xíng行
gōng攻
jiān坚
。
The police hesitated to storm the building because the other side had hostages, fearing collateral damage.
Zǒng总
jīng经
lǐ理
xiǎng想
chè撤
huàn换
nà那
gè个
bù部
mén门
de的
jīng经
lǐ理
，
dàn但
yòu又
tóu投
shǔ鼠
jì忌
qì器
，
dān担
xīn心
huì会
yǐn引
qǐ起
zhěng整
gè个
tuán团
duì队
de的
fǎn反
tán弹
。
The general manager wanted to replace that department's manager, but he hesitated for fear of causing backlash from the entire team.
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Dǎ打
jí击
fǔ腐
bài败
bù不
néng能
tóu投
shǔ鼠
jì忌
qì器
，
bì必
xū须
jiān坚
jué决
chè彻
dǐ底
。
We must not have scruples about cracking down on corruption; we must be resolute and thorough.