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Open the tool →抽刀断水 (chōu dāo duàn shuǐ) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to make a futile attempt to solve a problem”.
抽刀断水 is pronounced chōu dāo duàn shuǐ in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 抽刀断水 means “Draw a knife to cut water”. It is used to mean “to make a futile attempt to solve a problem”.
抽刀:拔出刀来。水:流水。抽出刀来要斩断流水。比喻无济于事,反会加速事态的发展。