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想尽 (xiǎng jǐn) — to think of every possible means; to exhaust every idea

Definition

Usually appears as 想尽办法: 'to try every possible way' to achieve something, often difficult. Pairs with 办法 or 方法, and frames effort as exhausting all options rather than picking one.

verb
to think of every possible meansto exhaust every idea

Examples

  • 想尽。
    Wǒ men yào xiǎng jǐn yí qiè bàn fǎ shuō fú tā.
    We must think of every possible way to persuade him.
  • 想尽，。
    Tā xiǎng jǐn le gè zhǒng fāng fǎ, zhōng yú chéng gōng le.
    He thought of all kinds of methods and finally succeeded.
  • 想尽。
    Mā ma xiǎng jǐn bàn fǎ ràng quán jiā chī hǎo.
    Mom thinks of every way to make the whole family eat well.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

想xiǎngthink
尽jìnexhaust

想 “think” and 尽 “exhaust” combine to mean thinking until every idea is exhausted.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart, mind
Sound part声符shēngfú
相
相xiāng想xiǎng
Same sound today

想 has 心 (heart, mind) below 相 (to look at); the shape shows the mind looking at or considering something, and 相 also gives the sound.

Open 想 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 盡; 尽 is its simplified writing.

  • 聿聿yùhand holding a brush
  • 灬灬huǒbristles
  • 皿皿mǐndish

The traditional form 盡 shows 聿 (hand holding a brush) and 灬 (bristles) over 皿 (dish), cleaning a dish until it is empty. The simplified 尽 is a shorthand, not those historical parts.

Open 尽 →
Appears in
Thinking & Cognition

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