| 竹篮打水 |
zhú lán dǎ shuǐ |
using a wicker basket to draw water (idiom); wasted effort |
| 竹 |
zhú |
bamboo / CL:棵,支,根 / Kangxi radical 118 |
| 竹篮 |
zhú lán |
wicker basket |
| 篮 |
lán |
basket (receptacle) / basket (in basketball) |
| 打 |
dá |
(loanword) dozen / Taiwan pr. [da3] |
| 打 |
dǎ |
a semantically light, transitive verb that is combined with various grammatical objects to form compound verbs and verb-object phrases with a diverse range of meanings (e.g. 打伞 "to hold an umbrella", 打电话 "to make a phone call", 打针 "to get an injection", 打手套 "to knit gloves", 打气 "to inflate") / to hit; to strike / to fight / (coll.) from; since (as in 打那以后 "since then") |
| 打水 |
dǎ shuǐ |
to draw water / to splash water |
| 水 |
Shuǐ |
surname Shui |
| 水 |
shuǐ |
water / (after a name) ... River / to swim (used mostly in 会水 and 水性) / (coll.) lacking in substance; shoddy / (bound form) additional cost; extra income / classifier for washings of a garment |