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Definition 2025

抽絲剝繭

抽絲剝繭

Chinese

			peel; to skin	cocoon
trad. (抽絲剝繭)		抽絲	剝	繭
simp. (抽丝剥茧)		抽丝	剥	茧

Idiom

抽絲剝繭

to painstakingly get to the bottom of something; to struggle to understand a convoluted argument or issue

Etymology

Literally: pull out the (raw) silk (from the silkworm), peel off the cocoon (of the silkworm)

Pronunciation

Mandarin

(Pinyin): chōusībōjiǎn

(Zhuyin): ㄔㄡㄙㄅㄛㄐㄧㄢˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): cau¹ si¹ mok¹ gaan²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
  - Pinyin: chōusībōjiǎn
  - Zhuyin: ㄔㄡㄙㄅㄛㄐㄧㄢˇ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chousybojean
  - IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰoʊ̯⁵⁵ sz̩⁵⁵ pu̯ɔ⁵⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: cau¹ si¹ mok¹ gaan²
  - Yale: chāu sī mōk gáan
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tsau¹ si¹ mok⁷ gaan²
  - IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɐu̯⁵⁵ siː⁵⁵ mɔːk̚⁵ kɑːn³⁵/