偷雞不成蝕把米

lit. to try to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice used to lure it (idiom) / fig. to try to gain an advantage only to end up worse off / to go for wool and come back shorn

to steal / to pilfer / to snatch / thief / stealthily

fowl / chicken / CL:隻|只[zhi1] / (slang) prostitute

no; not so / (bound form) not; un-

won't do / unable to / (at the end of a rhetorical question) can that be?

surname Cheng

to succeed / to finish / to complete / to accomplish / to become / to turn into / to be all right / OK! / one tenth

to nibble away at sth / to eat into / to erode

to hold / to contain / to grasp / to take hold of / handle / particle marking the following noun as a direct object / classifier for objects with handle / classifier for small objects: handful

handle

to hold; to grasp / to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate / handlebar / classifier: handful, bundle, bunch / classifier for things with handles / (used to put the object before the verb: 把[ba3] + {noun} + {verb})

rice / CL:粒[li4] / meter (classifier)