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抽丝剥茧

chōu sī bō jiǎn

4-character word Traditional 抽絲剝繭

What 抽丝剥茧 means

1. (lit.) to unwind the silk thread from the cocoon (idiom)
2. (fig.) to unravel a mystery; to painstakingly follow the clues to eventually get to the bottom of the matter

The characters in 抽丝剥茧

• 抽chōuto draw out; to pull out from in between; to remove part of the whole…
• 丝sīsilk; thread-like thing; (cuisine) shreds or julienne strips…
• 剥bōto peel; to skin; to flay
• 茧jiǎn(bound form) cocoon; (bound form) callus (variant of 趼