cut off one's nose to spite one's face

English

WOTD - 16 December 2011    

Verb

to cut off one's nose to spite one's face

1. (idiomatic) To harm oneself as a result of attempting to harm an adversary.

Translations

harm oneself as a result of trying to harm an adversary

Chinese: Mandarin: 損人不利己 (cmn), 损人不利己 (cmn) (sǔnrén bùlìjǐ) Finnish: sattua omaan nilkkaan (fi) German: sich ins eigene Fleisch schneiden (de)

Romanian: (lit. to hit oneself in the head) a-și da singur în cap (ro), (lit. to steal one's own cap) a-și fura singur căciula (ro) Spanish: tirar piedras al o contra el propio tejado (es)