Dictionary › 钻

钻

zuān

Old HSK 6 HSK 3.0 character level 6 Character Traditional 鑽

钻 (zuān) means "to drill; to bore; to get into". It is an HSK 3.0 level 6 word, and was HSK 6 in the old six-level list.

What 钻 means

1. to drill
2. to bore
3. to get into
4. to make one's way into
5. to enter (a hole)
6. to thread one's way through
7. to study intensively
8. to dig into
9. to curry favor for personal gain

Other readings

钻 is 多音字 — it is read more than one way, and the reading changes the meaning.

• zuàndrill; auger; diamond
• zuànvariant of {钻|zuàn}

Example sentences

• 好大一颗钻。
  The demand is huge.
• 钻石是一种宝石。
  Zuànshí shì yīzhǒng bǎoshí.
  The diamond is a precious stone.
• 汤姆说它是钻石。
  Tom said it was a diamond.
• 那些是真钻石吗？
  Are those real diamonds?
• 这颗钻石不是真的。
  This diamond is not real.
• 这可能不是真的钻石。
  Zhè kěnéng bù shì zhēn de zuànshí.
  This may not be a real diamond.

Words starting with 钻

• 钻石zuàn shídiamond
• 钻研zuān yánto study meticulously; to delve into
• 钻进zuān jìnto get into; to dig into (studies, job etc); to squeeze into
• 钻戒zuàn jièdiamond ring
• 钻心zuān xīnto sneak in; to infiltrate; to be piercingly painful
• 钻牛角尖zuān niú jiǎo jiānlit. to penetrate into a bull's horn (idiom); fig. to waste time on an insoluble or…
• 钻卡zuàn qiǎdrill chuck
• 钻压zuàn yāpressure on a drill bit
• 钻床zuàn chuángdrilling machine; drill press
• 钻探zuān tànto conduct exploratory drilling
• 钻机zuàn jīdrilling machine
• 钻营zuān yíngtoadying for personal gain; to curry favor; to study in great depth
• 钻版zuān bǎnto cut a woodblock (e.g. for printing)
• 钻眼zuān yǎnto drill a hole; drilling
• 钻谋zuān móuto use influence to get what one wants; to find a way through (esp. corrupt)…
• 钻头zuàn tóudrill bit
• 钻探机zuān tàn jīdrilling machine
• 钻桌子zuān zhuō zito crawl under a table (e.g. as a forfeit for losing a bet or card game)…
• 钻牛角zuān niú jiǎolit. honing a bull's horn; fig. to waste time on an insoluble or insignificant problem…
• 钻空子zuān kòng zito take advantage of a loophole; to exploit an advantage…
• 钻木取火zuān mù qǔ huǒto drill wood to make fire
• 钻粉zuān fěnresidue from drilling; slag hill
• 钻坚仰高zuān jiān yǎng gāolit. looking up to it, it gets higher; boring into it, it gets harder (idiom)…
• 钻洞zuān dòngto bore; to burrow; to crawl through a tunnel

Words containing 钻

• 刁钻diāo zuāncrafty; tricky
• 冰钻bīng zuànice auger
• 手钻shǒu zuàngimlet; hand drill
• 气钻qì zuànpneumatic drill
• 血钻xuè zuànblood diamond; conflict diamond
• 开钻kāi zuānto start drilling
• 电钻diàn zuànelectric drill
• 风钻fēng zuànpneumatic drill; jackhammer
• 冲击钻chōng jī zuànimpact drill; hammer drill
• 刻苦钻研kè kǔ zuān yánto study diligently
• 独立钻石dú lì zuàn shísolitaire (puzzle)
• 碎钻suì zuànsmall diamonds; melee (small diamonds used in embellishing mountings for larger gems)…
• 瓶塞钻píng sāi zuàncorkscrew
• 打孔钻dǎ kǒng zuànauger; drill
• 无孔不钻wú kǒng bù zuānlit. leave no hole undrilled (idiom); to latch on to every opportunity
• 螺丝钻luó sī zuànauger; gimlet; screwdriver (cocktail)
• 见缝就钻jiàn fèng jiù zuānlit. to squeeze into every crack (idiom); fig. to make the most of every opportunity
• 敲钉钻脚qiāo dīng zuān jiǎoto make doubly sure (idiom)
• 曲柄钻qū bǐng zuànhand drill with a crank handle
• 万头钻动wàn tóu zuān dòng(Taiwan) see 万头攒动

Characters that look like 钻

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 铀yóuuranium (chemistry); Taiwan pr. yòu
• 钼mùmolybdenum (chemistry)
• 钴gǔ(chemistry) cobalt (Taiwan pr. gū); used in 钴𬭁gǔ mǔ
• 钜jù(literary) hard iron; (literary) hook; barb; used in personal names and place names
• 铉xuànstick-like implement inserted into the handles of a tripod cauldron in ancient times in…
• 铟yīnindium (chemistry)

Sounds the same

Read zuān, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 躜to jump

Go deeper

• Every HSK 6 word, with the rest of its level.
• How characters are built from components.
• How to learn Chinese characters.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read zuān correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.