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殫精竭慮

简殚精竭虑 · 繁殫精竭慮

Mandarin · pinyin dān jīng jié lǜ

to exhaust one's thoughts and ingenuity (idiom); to think sth through thoroughly
to rack one's brains
to leave no stone unturned

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Characters in this entry

殫: Look up this written character
精: jīng · essence; semen; spirit
竭: jié · put forth great effort; exhaust
慮: Look up this written character
殚: dān · utmost, entirely, quite; use up
虑: lǜ · be concerned, worry about

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–2–4 · dan1 jing1 jie2 lu:4

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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.

殫精竭慮 · find source passages ↗ · 殚精竭虑 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

daan1 zing1 kit3 leoi6

Cantonese word readings for 殫精竭慮. 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.

phrase

(idiomatic) to exhaust one's energy and rack one's brain

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

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