| 抽丝剥茧 |
chōu sī bō jiǎn |
(lit.) to unwind the silk thread from the cocoon (idiom) / (fig.) to unravel a mystery; to painstakingly follow the clues to eventually get to the bottom of the matter |
| 抽 |
chōu |
to draw out; to pull out from in between / to remove part of the whole / to inhale (esp. smoke) / (of fabric etc) to shrink / (of certain plants) to sprout; to bud / to whip; to thrash / classifier for sheets (of tissues, wet wipes etc) |
| 抽丝 |
chōu sī |
to spin silk |
| 丝 |
sī |
silk / thread-like thing; (cuisine) shreds or julienne strips / classifier: a trace (of smoke etc), a tiny bit etc |
| 剥 |
bāo |
to peel / to skin / to shell / to shuck |
| 剥 |
bō |
to peel / to skin / to flay / to shuck |
| 茧 |
jiǎn |
(bound form) cocoon / (bound form) callus (variant of 趼) |
| 茧 |
jiǎn |
variant of 茧 |