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soigner le mal par le mal

French, verb/swa.ɲe l(ə) mal paʁ lə mal/

soigner le mal par le mal is a French verb meaning “to fight fire with fire; to cure like with like” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Avoir recours au mal pour soigner un mal”.

What does soigner le mal par le mal mean in English?

verb

  1. 1

    to fight fire with fire; to cure like with like

  2. 2

    to take a hair of the dog that bit one

Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How French dictionaries define it

verb: 1. Avoir recours au mal pour soigner un mal.

The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.

Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.

How do you pronounce soigner le mal par le mal?

  • /swa.ɲe l(ə) mal paʁ lə mal/
  • \swa.ɲe lə mal paʁ lə mal\

Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.