假途灭虢

lit. a short-cut to crush Guo (idiom); fig. to connive with sb to damage a third party, then turn on the partner

used in 假掰[gei1 bai1]

fake / false / artificial / to borrow / if / suppose

vacation

variant of 假[jia3] / to borrow

way / route / road

to extinguish or put out / to go out (of a fire etc) / to exterminate or wipe out / to drown

Guo, a kinship group whose members held dukedoms within the Zhou Dynasty realm, including Western Guo 西虢國|西虢国 and Eastern Guo 東虢國|东虢国 / surname Guo