钻 (zuān) · to drill; to bore into

Meanings

1 to drill; to bore into
2 to go through; to squeeze into
3 to study intensively; to dig into

Characters

钻

zuān

to drill; to bore into

Examples

HSK 3

小猫钻进了箱子里。

Xiǎo māo zuānjìn le xiāngzi lǐ.

The kitten squeezed into the box.

HSK 6

别钻牛角尖。

Bié zuānniújiǎojiān.

Don't get hung up on trivial details.

HSK 7-9

他喜欢钻研数学。

Tā xǐhuan zuānyán shùxué.

He likes to study mathematics deeply.

Tips

usage

zuān is the verb reading: to drill, bore, burrow, squeeze in, or by extension to dig into a subject intellectually. 钻洞 (drill a hole), 钻研 (study deeply), 钻进 (squeeze into). The reading flips to zuàn when 钻 becomes a noun - the tool or its material (see the diamond/drill entry).

culture

钻牛角尖 (zuān niújiǎojiān, lit. 'drill into the tip of a bull's horn') is a very common idiom for getting stuck on a trivial point or refusing to back off from a hopeless line of thought - the bull's horn tapers to a dead-end, and you have drilled all the way to where there is no more room.

Components

radical

钅 jīn

metal (radical form of 金)

Left-side metal radical - the indexing radical, simplified left-form of 金. Names the material of the drill bit: a hardened metal point that bores through stone or wood. Same family of metal-tool/object chars: 铁 (iron), 银 (silver), 铜 (copper), 钉 (nail), 钩 (hook).

phonetic

占 zhàn

to occupy; to divine

Right-side 占 supplies the sound - zhàn shifting to zuān in 钻, a notable rime change but the same phonetic series. 占 originally pictured a divination crack 卜 over a mouth 口 - a faint mnemonic for 'piercing into the unknown'. Phonetic family: 站 (stand), 战 (battle), 粘 (stick), 沾 (dip).