Chinese word

琢磨

Pronunciation

Pinyinzuó mó

Meaning

  • verbthink over

Example

我还在琢磨这个问题。wǒ hái zài zuó mó zhè ge wèn tí

I'm still thinking over this problem.

Illustration for 琢磨 (think over)

More examples

她反复琢磨字句，把文章改了好几遍。tā fǎn fù zuó mó zì jù bǎ wén zhāng gǎi le háo jǐ biàn

She repeatedly polished the wording, revising the article several times.

Core concept

A repeated finishing process that makes a rough thought, expression, or plan clearer and more complete.

Common phrases

  • 反复琢磨fǎn fù zuó mó

    think over repeatedly

  • 琢磨字句zuó mó zì jù

    polish wording

Similar words

考虑kǎo lǜ: To consider a situation and its possible choices before deciding what to do.

Definition in Chinese

经过反复思量和推敲，使想法、说法或方案更加成熟和完善的行为或过程。jīng guò fǎn fù sī liáng hé tuī qiāo shǐ xiáng fǎ shuō fǎ huò fāng àn gèng jiā chéng shú hé wán shàn de xíng wéi huò guò chéng

Word origin

琢 (zhuó, "carve jade") + 磨 (mó, "grind or polish") originally describe working a hard material, and the word extends that finishing process to thoughts, wording, and plans.

Usage tips

  • In everyday speech, it often marks an unfinished mental process, so an answer, wording, or plan is still taking shape rather than settled.

Other meanings

  • polishverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word