瓮中捉鳖

甕中捉鱉

wèngzhōng-zhuōbiē

idiom

Meanings

HSK 5

比赛进入最后一分钟，胜利已是瓮中捉鳖。

Bǐsài jìnrù zuìhòu yì fēnzhōng, shènglì yǐ shì wèngzhōng-zhuōbiē.

Going into the final minute, victory was already in the bag.

HSK 6

警察布好了网，对嫌犯来说就是瓮中捉鳖。

Jǐngchá bù hǎole wǎng, duì xiánfàn láishuō jiùshì wèngzhōng-zhuōbiē.

The police laid a net - for the suspect, it was a sure capture.

HSK 7-9

敌人已被包围，抓他们简直是瓮中捉鳖。

Dírén yǐ bèi bāowéi, zhuā tāmen jiǎnzhí shì wèngzhōng-zhuōbiē.

The enemy is surrounded - catching them is like grabbing a turtle in a jar.

history

From the Yuan-dynasty zaju play 李逵负荆 by Kang Jinzhi: 这是揉着我山儿的痒处，管教他瓮中捉鳖，手到拿来 - once a turtle is dropped into a jar, scooping it out is trivial.

瓮 wèng

中 zhōng

捉 zhuō

鳖 biē