殚 (dān) · to exhaust, to use up entirely

Meanings

1 to exhaust
2 to use up entirely

Characters

殚

dān

to exhaust; to use up entirely

Examples

HSK 7-9

为了完成这个项目，他殚精竭虑。

Wèile wánchéng zhège xiàngmù, tā dānjīngjiélǜ.

To complete this project he exhausted all his mental energy.

HSK 7-9

学者为这本书殚尽了毕生精力。

Xuézhě wèi zhè běn shū dān jìn le bìshēng jīnglì.

The scholar exhausted his lifelong energy on this book.

Tips

usage

殚 is literary and almost always appears in 殚精竭虑 ('to rack one's brains and exhaust all effort'), describing total devotion of mental energy to a task.

Components

radical

歹 dǎi

bad; bare bone; death

歹 is the 'death/bare-bone' radical. Here it suggests something worn down to nothing - energy spent until totally drained.

phonetic

单 dān

single; alone

单 ('single') gives the exact sound dān. A memory hook: spend until you are down to a 'single' last bit, then it is 殚 - exhausted.

Stroke Order

殚 dān

Related Words

殚精竭虑 dānjīng-jiélǜ #50,368

to exhaust one's mind and thought (idiom) / to rack one's brains; to leave no stone unturned

尽 jìn HSK 6 #1,005

to use up; to exhaust / to end; to finish / to the utmost / all; entirely

都 dōu HSK 1 #28

all / both / entirely / already

完全 wánquán HSK 4 #295

completely / entirely

统统 tǒngtǒng HSK 7-9 #7,248

all / entirely / completely

俱 jù #7,609

all; both; entirely

竭尽 jiéjìn #8,302

to exhaust; to use up completely / to spare no effort

将信将疑 jiāngxìn-jiāngyí

half-believing, half-doubting / to be skeptical but not entirely dismissive

劳民伤财 láomín-shāngcái

to waste manpower and money / to exhaust the people and drain resources / a pointless drain on labor and funds

劝君更尽一杯酒 quàn jūn gèng jìn yì bēi jiǔ

let me urge you to drain one more cup of wine / the classic Chinese farewell toast to a friend setting out on a long journey / urge you further-exhaust one cup wine