费尽周折 (fèi jìn zhōu zhé) — to go to great trouble; to take a lot of effort

Definition

A set phrase meaning 'to go to great trouble' — emphasizes that something required many twists, turns, and effort before succeeding. Implies the outcome was eventually achieved despite the difficulty.

verb
to go to great troubleto take a lot of effort

Examples

  • 费尽周折，。
    Tā fèi jìn zhōu zhé le hěn jiǔ, cái mǎi dào nà zhāng piào.
    He went through a lot of trouble for a long time before finally buying that ticket.
  • ，费尽周折。
    Wèi le zhè jiàn shì, wǒ men fèi jìn zhōu zhé zhōng yú zhǎo dào le tā.
    For this matter, we took great pains and finally found him.
  • 费尽周折，。
    fèi jìn zhōu zhé Hòu, tā chéng gōng dì wán chéng le rèn wu.
    After going through many twists and turns, she successfully completed the task.

Origin

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 費; 费 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèicowry
Sound part声符shēngfú
弗
弗fú費fèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 費 has 貝, a cowry shell, and 弗, which gives a sound; the simplified 费 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 费 →

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 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The oldest form of 周 drew a jade artifact with carved patterns. It was later borrowed for a place name, so an extra mark was added to distinguish it.

Open 周 →

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

  • 屮𣏄𣏄a tree {{zh-m|*木}} cut in half
  • 斤斤jīnaxe

The shape originally showed an axe (斤) cutting a tree in half; in 折 the left part is now written as a hand.

Open 折 →

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