đạp gai lấy gai mà lể
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Step on a thorn, dig it out with a thorn — the wound prescribes its own instrument; poison drives out poison.
Examples
Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)
Sources & notes
Discovered via Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.
Common questions
What does “đạp gai lấy gai mà lể” mean?
Step on a thorn, dig it out with a thorn — the wound prescribes its own instrument; poison drives out poison. Literally: tread a thorn, take a thorn to pick it
Is “đạp gai lấy gai mà lể” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.