刻舟求劍 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

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. lit. a notch on the side of a boat to locate a sword dropped overboard (idiom); fig. an action made pointless by changed circumstances

Characters

Character Meaning
刻 kè HSK 3
quarter (hour); moment; to carve
舟 zhōu HSK 6
boat
求 qiú HSK 3
to seek; to look for; to request
劍 jiàn
double-edged sword; classifier for blows of a sword