拆東補西 chāi dōng bǔ xī

move money around; rob Peter to pay Paul

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. lit. pull down the east wall to repair the west (idiom); fig. temporary expedient
  2. 2. Rob Peter to pay Paul

Characters

Character Meaning
拆 chāi HSK 5
to tear down; to tear open; to tear apart
東 dōng
east; surname Dong
補 bǔ
to make up for; to supplement; to repair
西 xī HSK 1
west; the West; abbr. for Spain 西班牙xī bān yá