管くだを以もって天てんを窺うかがう

expression, godan verb (-u)

have a narrow view of things; look at the sky through a tube

Idiomatic expression meaning to have a limited perspective or to judge things from a narrow viewpoint. The literal image is of trying to see the vast sky through a thin tube.

See also: 管窺

• 彼かれの意い見けんは管くだを以もって天てんを窺うかがうようなものだ。

  His opinion is like looking at the sky through a tube—narrow and limited.