kill two birds with one stone

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

kill two birds with one stone (third-person singular simple present kills two birds with one stone, present participle killing two birds with one stone, simple past and past participle killed two birds with one stone)

1. (idiomatic) To solve two problems with one single action.

   Biking to work kills two birds with one stone. It saves money travelling and will help to lose weight.

Synonyms

• feed two birds with one scone (vegan version)

Translations

solve two problems at once

• Afrikaans: twee vlieë met een klap slaan (af) (literally “to hit two flies in one slap”)
• Arabic: ضَرَب عُصْفُورَيْن بِحَجَر وَاحِد (ḍarab ʿuṣfūrayn bi-ḥajar wāḥid, literally “to hit two sparrows with one stone”)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Bengali: এক ঢিলে দুই পাখি মারা (bn) (literally "to hit two birds with one stone")
• Breton: lazhañ div voualc'h gant ur maen (br)
• Bulgarian: да убиеш с един куршум два заека (da ubieš s edin kuršum dva zaeka, literally “to kill two rabbits with one bullet”)
• Catalan: matar dos pardals d'un tret, matar dos ocells d'un tret
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 一石二鳥／一石二鸟 (zh) (yīshí'èrniǎo, literally “one stone, two birds”), 一石二鸟 (zh) (yī shí èr niǎo), 一箭雙雕／一箭双雕 (zh) (yījiànshuāngdiāo), 一箭双雕 (zh) (yī jiàn shuāng diāo), 一舉兩得／一举两得 (zh) (yījǔliǎngdé), 一举两得 (zh) (yī jǔ liǎng dé)

• Czech: zabít dvě mouchy jednou ranou (literally “to kill two flies with one hit”)
• Danish: slå to fluer med et smæk (literally “to hit two flies with one slap”)
• Dutch: twee vliegen in één klap slaan (literally “to hit two flies in one slap”)
• Esperanto: trafi du celojn per unu ŝtono (eo) (literally “to hit two targets with one stone”)
• Estonian: tapma kaks kärbest ühe hoobiga (literally “to kill two flies in one slap”)
• Finnish: tappaa kaksi kärpästä yhdellä iskulla (literally “to kill two flies in one slap”)
• French: faire d’une pierre deux coups (fr) (literally “to use a stone for two hits”)
• Georgian: ერთი გასროლით ორი კურდღლის მოკვლა (erti gasrolit ori ḳurdɣlis moḳvla)
• German: zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen (de) (literally “to hit two flies in one slap”)
• Greek: με ένα σμπάρο δυο τρυγόνια (me éna smpáro dyo trygónia, literally “with one shot, two pigeons”), μ' ένα σμπάρο δυο τρυγόνια (m' éna smpáro dyo trygónia)
• Hebrew: לתפוס שתי ציפורים במכה אחת
• Hindi: एक पंथ दो काज (ek panth do kāj)
• Hungarian: két legyet üt egy csapásra
• Icelandic: slá tvær flugur í einu höggi (literally “to hit two flies in one slap”)
• Italian: prendere due piccioni con una fava (literally “to catch two pigeons with one fava bean”)
• Japanese: 一石二鳥 (ja) (いっせきにちょう, isseki ni chō, literally “one stone, two birds”), 一挙両得 (ja) (ikkyo ryōtoku)
• Kazakh: бір оқпен екі қоян ату (bır oqpen ekı qoän atu, literally “to kill two birds with one shot”)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 일석이조 (ko) (ilseok-ijo, literally “one stone, two birds”) (一石二鳥 (ko))
• Latin: Duo parietes de eadem fidelia dealbare (literally “to whitewash two walls out of the same bucket”) (Cicero, Ad Familiares 7.29.2.)
• Latvian: nošaut divus zaķus ar vienu šāvienu (literally “to shoot two bunnies with one shot”)
• Lithuanian: vienu šūviu nušauti du zuikius (literally “to shoot two rabbits with one shot”)
• Malay: sambil menyelam minum air (literally “to submerge and drink at the same time”)
• Mongolian: нэг сумаар хоёр туулай буудах (neg sumaar xojor tuulaj buudax, literally “to kill two hares with one bullet”)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: slå to fluer i ett smekk (no) (literally “to hit two flies in one slap”)

  Nynorsk: slå to fluger i eit smekk (literally “to hit two flies in one slap”)

• Persian: با یک تیر دو نشان زدن (bâ yek tir do nešân zadan)
• Polish: upiec dwie pieczenie na jednym ogniu (pl) (literally “to cook two roasts on one fire”)
• Portuguese: matar dois coelhos com uma cajadada só (literally “to kill two rabbits with a single crook blow”)
• Romanian: omorî două muște dintr-o lovitură (literally “to hit two flies in one slap”), împușca doi iepuri dintr-un foc (literally “to kill two rabbits with one bullet”)
• Russian: уби́ть одни́м вы́стрелом двух за́йцев pf (ubítʹ odním výstrelom dvux zájcev, literally “to kill two hares with one shot”)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: убити једним ударцем двије мухе (literally “to hit two flies in one slap”)

  Roman: ùbiti jèdnīm ùdārcem dvȉje mùhe (literally “to hit two flies in one slap”)

• Spanish: matar dos pájaros de un tiro (es) (literally “to kill two birds with one shot”)
• Swedish: slå två flugor i en smäll (sv) (literally “to hit two flies in one slap”)
• Telugu: ఒకేదెబ్బకు రెండు పిట్టలు (okēdebbaku reṇḍu piṭṭalu)
• Thai: ยิงปืนนัดเดียวได้นกสองตัว (ying bpeun nát dieow dâai nók sŏng dtua)
• Turkish: bir taşla iki kuş vurmak (tr) (literally “to hit two birds with one stone”)
• Vietnamese: một công đôi việc, một công đôi chuyện, nhất cử lưỡng tiện (vi), nhất tiễn song điêu
• Welsh: lladd dau aderyn â'r un garreg, lladd dau aderyn ag un ergyd, lladd dwy frân ag un ergyd
• Yiddish: שיסן צוויי האָזן מיט איין שאָס (shisn tsvey hozn mit eyn shos, literally “shoot two hares with one shot”)

See also

• at one blast
• one fell swoop
• while one is at it