举一反三

举一反三

Literally means:

give one example know three

Actually means:

draw inferences about other cases from one instance; make inferences by analogy

举, to propose; 反, to infer by analogy.

It figuratively means that from one thing a person can know other related things by analogy. It also means that a person is good at applying one known fact to other unknown fields. It is usually used to describe a method. Commendatory.

举，提出。反，类推。

比喻懂得一件事，就可以从这件事情类推而知道许多同类的事，或者从懂得的一点，灵活运用到其他方面。多指一种方法。具有褒义色彩。