努力 nǔ lì to make an effort / to try hard / to strive / hard-working / conscientious syn 理 lǐ texture / grain (of wood) / inner essence / intrinsic order / reason / logic / truth / science / natural science (esp. physics) / to manage / to pay attention to / to run (affairs) / to handle / to put in order / to tidy up syn 辛苦 xīn kǔ exhausting / hard / tough / arduous / to work hard / to go to a lot of trouble / hardship(s) syn 木头 木頭 mù tou slow-witted / blockhead / log (of wood, timber etc) / CL:塊|块[kuai4],根[gen1] syn 篱笆 籬笆 lí ba fence (esp. of bamboo or wood railings) syn 木材 mù cái wood syn 伐木 fá mù to cut wood / tree-felling / lumbering syn 塑像 sù xiàng to sculpt or mold a statue (by shaping a pliable material such as clay, plaster or wax, which may later be cast in metal – as distinct from carving in stone or wood) / a statue created through such a process syn 难说 難說 nán shuō hard to tell (i.e. hard to judge or hard to predict) / cannot bring oneself to say it syn 松木 sōng mù pine wood / deal / larch 木屑 mù xiè wood shavings / sawdust syn 门闩 門閂 mén shuān horizontal bar to hold a door closed (made of wood or metal) / door bolt syn 纹路 紋路 wén lù veined pattern / wrinkles / vein lines (in marble or fingerprint) / grain (in wood etc) syn 苦练 苦練 kǔ liàn to train hard / to practice diligently / hard work / blood, sweat, and tears 红木 紅木 hóng mù red wood / mahogany / rosewood / padauk 纹理 紋理 wén lǐ vein lines (in marble or fingerprint) / grain (in wood etc) syn 蛀虫 蛀蟲 zhù chóng insect that eats into wood, books, clothes etc / fig. vermin syn 朽木 xiǔ mù rotten wood syn 甲醇 jiǎ chún methyl alcohol / methanol CH3OH / wood alcohol / wood spirit 劈柴 pǐ chái chopped wood / firewood 五行 wǔ xíng five phases of Chinese philosophy: wood 木, fire 火, earth 土, metal 金, water 水 syn 桐油 tóng yóu tung oil, from the Japanese wood-oil tree Aleurites cordata, used in making lacquer 木耳 mù ěr wood ear / jelly ear (edible fungus) / CL:朵[duo3] syn 难解难分 難解難分 nán jiě nán fēn hard to untie, hard to separate (idiom) / inextricably involved / locked in battle syn 移动硬盘 移動硬盤 yí dòng yìng pán portable hard drive / external hard drive 硬碟 yìng dié (Tw) hard disk / hard drive 丁丁 zhēng zhēng sound of chopping wood, chess pieces hitting the board etc syn 难解 難解 nán jiě hard to solve / hard to dispel / hard to understand / hard to undo 竹木 zhú mù bamboo and wood 茯苓 fú líng Wolfiporia extensa (a wood-decay fungus) / fu ling / tuckahoe 苏木 蘇木 sū mù sappan wood (Caesalpinia sappan), used in Chinese medicine / administrative subdivision of banner 旗 (county) in Inner Mongolia (Mongol: arrow) 砍树 砍樹 kǎn shù to chop wood / to chop down trees 木片 mù piàn flat piece of wood / wood chip / CL:塊|块[kuai4],片[pian4] 八音 bā yīn ancient classification system for musical instruments, based on the material of which the instrument is made (metal 金, stone 石, clay 土, leather 革, silk 絲|丝, wood 木, gourd 匏, bamboo 竹) / the eight kinds of sound produced by instruments in these categories / music 木杆 木桿 mù gān wooden pole / wood (golf club) 灌木林 guàn mù lín shrubbery / low wood 积重难返 積重難返 jī zhòng nán fǎn ingrained habits are hard to overcome (idiom) / bad old practices die hard syn 签 籤 qiān inscribed bamboo stick (used in divination, gambling, drawing lots etc) / small wood sliver / label / tag syn 木 mù (bound form) tree / (bound form) wood / unresponsive / numb / wooden syn 纹 紋 wén line / trace / mark / pattern / grain (of wood etc) syn 炭 tàn wood charcoal / coal syn 札 zhá thin piece of wood used a writing tablet (in ancient China) / a kind of official document (in former times) / letter / note / plague syn 栈 棧 zhàn a wooden or bamboo pen for sheep or cattle / wood or bamboo trestlework / a warehouse / (computing) stack syn 梓 zǐ Chinese catalpa (Catalpa ovata), a tree that serves as a symbol of one's hometown and whose wood is used to make various items / (bound form) printing blocks syn 油桐 yóu tóng Chinese wood-oil tree (Vernicia fordii) syn 刨花 bào huā wood shavings 盲人摸象 máng rén mō xiàng blind people touch an elephant (idiom, from Nirvana sutra 大般涅槃經|大般涅盘经[da4 ban1 Nie4 pan2 jing1]) / fig. unable to see the big picture / to mistake the part for the whole / unable to see the wood for the trees syn 硅化木 guī huà mù petrified wood (geology) 鸡翅木 雞翅木 jī chì mù wenge or wengue (type of wood) 形成层 形成層 xíng chéng céng vascular cambium (layer of tissue responsible for growth inside wood) 边材 邊材 biān cái sapwood (between vascular cambium and pith inside growing wood) 樵 qiáo firewood / gather wood syn 镌 鐫 juān to engrave (on wood or stone) / to inscribe syn 蠡 lǐ wood-boring insect syn 槁 gǎo dried up (wood) / dead tree 槎 chá a raft made of bamboo or wood / to fell trees / to hew syn 巽 xùn to obey / one of the Eight Trigrams 八卦[ba1 gua4], symbolizing wood and wind / ☴ / ancient Chinese compass point: 135° (southeast) 锼 鎪 sōu to engrave (metal of wood) syn 桄 guàng woven wood and bamboo utensil / classifier for threads and strings 整 zhěng (bound form) whole / complete / entire / (before a measure word) whole / (before or after number + measure word) exactly / (bound form) in good order / tidy / neat / (bound form) to put in order / to straighten / (bound form) to repair / to mend / to renovate / (coll.) to fix sb / to give sb a hard time / to mess with sb / (dialect) to tinker with / to do sth to syn 难以置信 難以置信 nán yǐ zhì xìn (idiom) hard to believe / incredible syn 难以 難以 nán yǐ hard to (predict, imagine etc) syn 艰难 艱難 jiān nán difficult / hard / challenging syn 难堪 難堪 nán kān hard to take / embarrassed syn 想不到 xiǎng bu dào unexpected / hard to imagine / it had not occurred to me / who could have thought that syn 分配 fēn pèi to distribute / to assign / to allocate / to partition (a hard drive) syn 强硬 強硬 qiáng yìng tough / unyielding / hard-line syn 硬盘 硬盤 yìng pán hard disk 沉重 chén zhòng heavy / hard / serious / critical syn 难得 難得 nán dé seldom / rare / hard to come by syn 艰苦 艱苦 jiān kǔ difficult / hard / arduous syn 目录 目錄 mù lù catalog / table of contents / directory (on computer hard drive) / list / contents syn 卖力 賣力 mài lì to work hard / to do one's very best / to throw oneself into the task at hand syn 坚固 堅固 jiān gù firm / firmly / hard / stable syn 难免 難免 nán miǎn hard to avoid / difficult to escape from / will inevitably syn 苦苦 kǔ kǔ strenuously / persistently / hard / painful 受罪 shòu zuì to endure / to suffer / hardships / torments / a hard time / a nuisance syn 坚硬 堅硬 jiān yìng hard / solid syn 顽强 頑強 wán qiáng tenacious / hard to defeat syn 机车 機車 jī chē locomotive / train engine car / (Tw) scooter / (Tw) (slang) hard to get along with / to be a pain in the ass / (Tw) damn! / crap! syn 用功 yòng gōng diligent / industrious (in one's studies) / to study hard / to make great effort syn 难以启齿 難以啟齒 nán yǐ qǐ chǐ to be too embarrassed to mention sth (idiom) / to find it hard to speak about sth syn 手软 手軟 shǒu ruǎn to be lenient / to relent / to be reluctant to make a hard decision / to think twice syn 奋战 奮戰 fèn zhàn to fight bravely / (fig.) to struggle / to work hard syn 苦力 kǔ lì bitter work / hard toil / (loanword) coolie, unskilled Chinese laborer in colonial times syn 焦头烂额 焦頭爛額 jiāo tóu làn é lit. badly burned about the head (from trying to put out a fire) (idiom) / fig. hard-pressed / under pressure (from a heavy workload, creditors etc) syn 费解 費解 fèi jiě to be puzzled / hard to understand / unintelligible / incomprehensible syn 血汗 xuè hàn (fig.) sweat and toil / hard work syn 难保 難保 nán bǎo hard to say / can't guarantee / difficult to protect / difficult to preserve syn 刁难 刁難 diāo nàn to be hard on sb / to deliberately make things difficult / Taiwan pr. [diao1nan2] syn 迷离 迷離 mí lí blurred / hard to make out distinctly syn 左右为难 左右為難 zuǒ yòu wéi nán (idiom) between a rock and a hard place / in a dilemma syn 窘迫 jiǒng pò poverty-stricken / very poor / hard-pressed / in a predicament / embarrassed syn 争气 爭氣 zhēng qì to work hard for sth / to resolve on improvement / determined not to fall short syn 磁碟 cí dié (magnetic) computer disk (hard disk or floppy) 症结 癥結 zhēng jié hard lump in the abdomen (in Chinese medicine) / crux of an issue / main point in an argument / sticking point / deadlock in negotiations syn 狂饮 狂飲 kuáng yǐn to drink hard syn 操劳 操勞 cāo láo to work hard / to look after syn 