抓工夫

Mandarin · pinyin zhuā gōng fu

Meanings

  1. to maximize one's time
  2. to catch some time out
  3. to find enough time
  4. (also 抓功夫)
Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

抓
zhuā · scratch; clutch, seize, grab
工
gōng · labor, work; worker, laborer
夫
fū · man, male adult, husband; those
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–1–5 · zhua1 gong1 fu5

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

3character links1same-tone record
Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

抓工夫 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zaau2 gung1 fu1

Cantonese word readings for 抓工夫. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

抓工夫 · zhua1 gong1 fu5
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 45,488
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record抓工夫 抓工夫 [zhua1 gong1 fu5] /to maximize one's time/to catch some time out/to find enough time/(also 抓功夫)/