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勞心苦思

简劳心苦思 · 繁勞心苦思

Mandarin · pinyin láo xīn kǔ sī

to rack one's brains
to think hard

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Characters in this entry

勞: Look up this written character
心: xīn · heart; mind, intelligence; soul; 5th lunar mansion, determinative star α Scorpii (Antares)
苦: kǔ · bitter; hardship, suffering
思: sī · think, consider, ponder; final particle
劳: láo · labor, toil, do manual work

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–1–3–1 · lao2 xin1 ku3 si1

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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.

勞心苦思 · find source passages ↗ · 劳心苦思 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lou4 sam1 fu2 si1

Cantonese word readings for 勞心苦思. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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