治丝而棼
zhì​sī'ér​fén

to make a mess of things

  • created reference approved 治丝而棼/治絲而棼 → 治丝益棼/治絲益棼 (variant) — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    治丝而棼 / 治絲而棼 zhì​sī'ér​fén

    治丝益棼 / 治絲益棼 zhì​sī​yì​fén

    variant

    Changed: source (simp), source (trad), source pinyin, target (simp), target (trad), target pinyin, type

    created reference

  • created sense approved 治丝而棼/治絲而棼 · zhì​sī'ér​fén · to make a mess of things — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    治丝而棼 / 治絲而棼

    zhì​sī'ér​fén

    to make a mess of things

    to mess up something by mishandling it; to fail to find the right way to approach a problem and make it worse, like trying to untangle a silk thread only to tangle it further

    治 (literal) → 治 · zhì · to rule 丝 (literal) → 丝/絲 · sī · silk 而 (literal) → 而 · ér · [adverbial linker] 棼 (bound) → 棼 · fén · confused

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense