钻 (zuàn): drill; auger

Meanings

1 drill; auger
2 diamond

Characters

钻

zuàn

drill; auger

Examples

他送了她一枚钻戒。

Tā sòng le tā yì méi zuànjiè.

He gave her a diamond ring.

电钻可以快速打孔。

Diànzuàn kěyǐ kuàisù dǎkǒng.

An electric drill can make holes quickly.

这块钻石很值钱。

Zhèkuài zuànshí hěn zhíqián.

This diamond is very valuable.

Tips

usage

zuàn is the noun reading. Two main meanings: the drill tool (电钻 power drill, 冲击钻 hammer drill, 钻头 drill bit) and the hardest natural material we use as a drilling tip — diamond (钻石 diamond, 钻戒 diamond ring). The link is industrial: a diamond is what you put on the tip of the drill.

memory

Verb = zuān (drill action). Noun = zuàn (drill tool, or the diamond stone we make drill tips from). Same character, just tone flipping between the action and the thing.

Components

radical

钅 jīn

metal (radical form of 金)

Metal radical — the indexing radical. Even more on the nose for this reading than the verb sense: zuàn names the drill itself (a metal tool) or the diamond used as its cutting tip. Same metal-tool family: 钉 (nail), 钩 (hook), 钳 (pliers).

phonetic

占 zhàn

to occupy; to divine

Phonetic 占 again — zhàn → zuàn for this reading. The tone-only distinction between zuān (verb) and zuàn (noun) is a textbook example of Chinese using tone alone to flip word class on a single graph.