Chinese word

推敲

Pronunciation

Pinyintuī qiāo

Meaning

  • verbpolish

Example

我在推敲这段话的表达。wǒ zài tuī qiāo zhè duàn huà de biǎo dá

I am polishing the wording of this passage.

Illustration for 推敲 (polish)

More examples

他对合同条款反复推敲，才确定最终版本。tā duì hé tóng tiáo kuǎn fǎn fù tuī qiāo cái què dìng zuì zhōng bán běn

He repeatedly polished the contract terms and only then settled on the final version.

Core concept

Carefully testing and refining wording, one detail at a time.

Common phrases

  • 推敲表达tuī qiāo biǎo dá

    polish the expression

  • 推敲措辞tuī qiāo cuò cí

    polish the phrasing

  • 推敲文章tuī qiāo wén zhāng

    polish a written piece

Similar words

斟酌zhēn zhuó: Carefully weighs a matter or choice before deciding what is suitable.
校对jiào duì: Proofreads writing by finding and correcting errors or inconsistencies before publication.
修改xiū gǎi: Revises content or wording to correct errors or change its form.
润色rùn sè: Refines written language to make it more natural and easier to read.

Definition in Chinese

仔细斟酌并反复修改文字或表述，着重对细节进行推敲和完善。zǐ xì zhēn zhuó bìng fǎn fù xiū gǎi wén zì huò biǎo shù zhuó zhòng duì xì jié jìn xíng tuī qiāo hé wán shàn

Word origin

推 (tuī, "push") + 敲 (qiāo, "knock") recalls a story about the poet Jia Dao weighing which verb belonged in a poem, and the pair came to mean examining wording again and again.

Usage tips

  • This verb usually takes a sentence, passage, or other piece of wording as its object, so it suits refining a message or speech better than thinking over a private feeling.

Other meanings

  • deliberateverb
  • examine closelyverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word