| 刻 |
kè zhōu qiú jiàn | lit. a notch on the side of a boat to locate a sword dropped overboard (idiom); fig. an action made pointless by changed circumstances |
| 刻 |
kè | quarter (hour) / moment / to carve / to engrave / to cut / oppressive / classifier for short time intervals |
| 舟 |
zhōu | boat |
| 求 |
qiú | to seek / to look for / to request / to demand / to beseech |
| 剑 |
jiàn | double-edged sword / CL:口,把 / classifier for blows of a sword |
| 剑 |
jiàn | variant of 剑 |