gaau2 zeon6 nou5 zap1絞盡腦汁绞尽脑汁
Jyutpinggaau2 zeon6 nou5 zap1
Yalegáau jeuhn nóuh jāp
Definition
To rack one's brain; to think extremely hard to come up with ideas or solutions.
colloquialdaily actionsdescriptions
How it's used
This idiom carries a sense of intense mental exertion, often implying that the effort is exhausting or potentially futile. It is frequently used when someone is struggling to find a creative solution or a way out of a difficult situation. While it is a four-character idiom, it fits naturally into spoken Cantonese sentences without sounding overly formal or literary.
Examples
I racked my brain but still couldn't think of how to solve it.
Common phrases
rack one's brain to think
rack one's brain to find
Common mistake
Learners sometimes mistakenly use this to mean simply thinking hard about something, but it specifically implies a struggle to produce a result or an answer. It is not used for casual thinking or pondering.
Grammar color guide
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Adjective
Adverb
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Grammar guides
- Directional complementsThe small words added after a verb to show direction of movement, like up, down, out, in, and back. Common in everyday Cantonese.
- DemonstrativesThis and that with 呢 and 嗰, the personal pronouns, and how 哋 turns I, you, and he into we, you all, and they.
- Resultative complementsSticking a result word onto a verb to show how it turned out, like eat until full or look and find. A productive everyday pattern.
