📖 Meaning
An inescapable trap or dragnet that leaves no way out. It describes a situation where someone is completely surrounded or caught, with every avenue of escape blocked.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom traces back to ancient Chinese Taoist cosmology, where 天网 referred to the vast net of heaven spread across the sky. It appears in Chapter 73 of the Dao De Jing (道德经) by Laozi: '天网恢恢，疏而不失' (The net of heaven is vast; though its mesh is wide, nothing slips through). The paired form 天罗地网 later became common in vernacular literature and Buddhist texts to describe a net spread both above and below, leaving no gap for escape.
💡 Example Usage
警方布下了天罗地网，犯罪分子插翅难逃。
The police set up an inescapable dragnet; the criminals couldn't escape even if they had wings.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 天罗地网
- Pinyin: tiān luó dì wǎng
- Literal Translation: sky net, earth net
- Category: Method
- Characters: 4