竭 (jié): to exhaust
竭 (jié) is a Chinese character meaning “to exhaust.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 立 (semantic) and 曷 (phonetic). It ranks #1960 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 竭 stand. Its radical form 立 (stand) appears in many related characters such as 站 (zhàn, station), 立 (lì, to stand), 童 (tóng, child).
Definitions
- to exhaust
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 竭 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 竭尽全力 | jié jìn quán lì | (idiom) to spare no effort |
| 竭尽 | jié jìn | to use up |
| 衰竭 | shuāi jié | organ failure |
| 竭力 | jié lì | to do one's utmost |
| 精疲力竭 | jīng pí lì jié | spirit weary, strength exhausted (idiom) |
| 枯竭 | kū jié | used up |
| 心力衰竭 | xīn lì shuāi jié | heart failure |
| 声嘶力竭 | shēng sī lì jié | to shout oneself hoarse (idiom) |
| 竭诚 | jié chéng | wholeheartedly |
| 尽心竭力 | jìn xīn jié lì | to spare no effort (idiom) |
| 殚精竭虑 | dān jīng jié lǜ | to exhaust one's thoughts and ingenuity (idiom) |
| 竭泽而渔 | jié zé ér yú | lit. to drain the pond to get at the fish (idiom) |
| 取之不尽，用之不竭 | qǔ zhī bù jìn , yòng zhī bù jié | limitless supply (of) |
| 竭心 | jié xīn | to do one's utmost |
| 再衰三竭 | zài shuāi sān jié | weakening and close to exhaustion (idiom) |
竭 appears in 22 compound words: 27 as the first character, 59 as the last, and 14 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 竭 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (8)
to do all one can; to do one's utmost; to spare no effort; to go all-out
weakening and close to exhaustion (idiom); in terminal decline; on one's last legs
to do all one can; to do one's utmost; to spare no effort; to go all-out
weakening and close to exhaustion (idiom); in terminal decline; on one's last legs
Showing 7 of 8 idioms containing 竭.
Example Sentences
竭字虽然难写，但意思很有趣。
jié zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .
The character "竭" may be difficult to write, but its meaning is quite interesting.
渐冻人最后死于什么?呼吸衰竭与吸入性肺炎并发症
jiān dòng rén zuì hòu sǐ yú shén má ? hū xī shuāi jié yǔ xī rù xìng fèi yán bìng fā zhèng
男子患肾衰竭4期戒吃3类早餐 成功逆转免洗肾 医生教...
nán zǐ huàn shèn shuāi jié 4 qī jiè chī 3 lèi zǎo cān chéng gōng nì zhuǎn miǎn xǐ shèn yī shēng jiào . . .
夜晚暴露强光下唔只干扰睡眠!研究:心衰竭风险增逾五成
yè wǎn bào lù qiáng guāng xià 唔 zhī gān rǎo shuì mián ! yán jiū : xīn shuāi jié fēng xiǎn zēng yú wǔ chéng
Exposure to bright light at night does more than just disrupt sleep! Study: Risk of heart failure increases by over 50%
...不起是什么原因引起的呢?慢性疲劳综合征耗竭身体能量吗
. . . bù qǐ shì shén má yuán yīn yǐn qǐ de ne ? màn xìng pí láo zèng gě zhēng hào jié shēn tǐ néng liàng ma
... What causes the insignia? Does chronic fatigue syndrome drain your body's energy?
汤姆和玛丽竭尽全力帮助约翰。
Tāngmǔ hé Mǎlì jiéjìnquánlì bāngzhù Yuēhàn.
Tom and Mary did all they could to help John do that.
他声嘶力竭地叫道：「这场仗，我们不可以输！」
Tā shēngsīlìjié de jiàodào:「 zhè chǎng zhàng, wǒmen bù kěyǐ shū!」
He shouted at the top of his voice, "This is a battle we cannot lose."
她为了他竭尽所能。
Tā wèile tā jiéjìnsuǒnéng.
She did everything she could for him.
你精疲力竭的面孔有时会出现在我眼前。
Nǐ jīngpílìjié de miànkǒng yǒushí huì chūxiàn zài wǒ yǎnqián.
Sometimes that tired-out face of yours appears in front of my eyes.
医生虽然已经竭尽全力，但不久病人还是死了。
Yīshēng suīrán yǐjīng jiéjìnquánlì, dàn bù jiǔbìng rén háishi sǐ le.
All the doctor's efforts were in vain and the man soon died.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 竭 (jié) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 竭 and 渴?
How many strokes does 竭 have?
What is the radical of 竭?
What are the components of 竭?
What are common words containing 竭?
What characters sound the same as 竭 (jié)?
Is 竭 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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