斬草除根

斩草除根
zhǎncǎochúgēn
  1. to cut weeds and eliminate the roots (idiom); to destroy root and branch
  2. to eliminate completely

CEDICT

Entry Composition

1 斬 zhǎn
  1. to behead (as form of capital punishment)
  2. to chop
=2 草 cǎo variant of 草 cǎo
=2 草 cǎo
  1. grass
  2. straw
  3. manuscript
  4. draft (of a document)
  5. careless
  6. rough

classifiers: 棵, 撮, 株, 根
3 除根 chúgēn
  1. to root out
  2. to eliminate the roots
  3. to cure once and for all