费尽心机 (fèi jìn xīn jī) — to rack one's brains; to exhaust one's mental energy (often for scheming or achieving something difficult)
Definition
An idiom meaning someone has spent great mental effort, often with a hint of scheming or contriving rather than straightforward work. Stronger than just "thinking hard" — implies deliberate, calculated planning.
idiom
to rack one's brainsto exhaust one's mental energy (often for scheming or achieving something difficult)
Examples
- ，费尽心机，。Wèi le zhè cì tán pàn, tā fèi jìn xīn jī, zhǔn bèi le hěn duō fāng àn.He racked his brains for this negotiation and prepared many plans.
- 费尽心机，。Dí rén fèi jìn xīn jī xiǎng yào tū pò fáng xiàn, dàn zuì zhōng hái shì shī bài le.The enemy racked their brains trying to break through the defense line, but ultimately failed.
- 费尽心机。Tā fèi jìn xīn jī cái xiǎng chū zhè ge wàn quán zhī cè.He racked his brains before coming up with this foolproof plan.
Origin
Compound word构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object
An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.
“费” means expend, “尽” means exhaust, “心” means mind, and “机” means scheme, so the sense is to exhaust one's schemes.
Appears in
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