枯竭

Mandarin · pinyin kū jié

Meanings

  1. used up
  2. dried up
  3. exhausted (of resources)
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Characters in this entry

枯
kū · dried out, withered, decayed
竭
jié · put forth great effort; exhaust
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–2 · ku1 jie2

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

fu1 kit3

Cantonese word readings for 枯竭. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

verb

  1. (literally, of bodies of water) to dry up
  2. (figuratively) to exhaust; to use up completely; to deplete

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack