钻

The Chinese character 钻 (zuàn) is composed of two parts: the radical 钅 (jīn), which represents metal, and the phonetic component 刌 (zhuàn), which represents cutting or drilling. The character 钻 originally meant "to drill" or "to bore," and it has since extended to mean "to penetrate," "to explore," or "to investigate."The radical 钅 (jīn) is a pictograph of a piece of metal. It is one of the most common radicals in Chinese, and it is used in many characters related to metal, such as 铁 (tiě, "iron"), 铜 (tóng, "copper"), and 金 (jīn, "gold").The phonetic component 刌 (zhuàn) is a pictograph of a knife. It is also used in many other characters related to cutting or drilling, such as 凿 (zuò, "to chisel"), 削 (xiāo, "to shave"), and 砍 (kǎn, "to chop").The combination of the radical 钅 (jīn) and the phonetic component 刌 (zhuàn) creates the character 钻 (zuàn), which means "to drill" or "to bore." The character has since extended to mean "to penetrate," "to explore," or "to investigate." For example, the phrase 钻研 (zuānyán) means "to study diligently," and the phrase 钻空子 (zuānkòngzi) means "to take advantage of a loophole."