埋 头 苦 干

mái tóu kǔ gàndictionary entry

to bury oneself in work (idiom) / to be engrossed in work / to make an all-out effort / up to the neck in work

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-b798f303095b52f4. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

埋頭苦幹 埋头苦干 [mai2 tou2 ku3 gan4] /to bury oneself in work (idiom); to be engrossed in work/to make an all-out effort/up to the neck in work/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 埋頭苦幹

埋
mái
to bury
mán
used in 埋怨[mán yuàn]
头
tóu
head / hair style / the top / end / beginning or end / a stub / remnant / chief / boss / side / aspect / first / leading / classifier for pigs or livestock / CL:個|个[gè]
tou
suffix for nouns
苦
kǔ
bitter / hardship / pain / to suffer / to bring suffering to / painstakingly
干
gān
dry / dried food / empty / hollow / taken in to nominal kinship / adoptive / foster / futile / in vain / (dialect) rude / blunt / (dialect) to cold-shoulder / (bound form) to have to do with / to concern oneself with / one of the ten heavenly stems 天干[tiān gān] / (archaic) shield
gàn
tree trunk / main part of sth / to manage / to work / to do / capable / cadre / to kill (slang) / to fuck (vulgar) / (coll.) pissed off / annoyed
Gān
surname Gan

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.