悬梁刺股

xuán liáng cì gǔ

to study with extreme dedication

Character by character

悬xuán
hang

梁liáng
beam

刺cì
stab

股gǔ
thigh

为了考研，他几乎到了悬梁刺股的地步。

Preparing for the postgraduate exam, he practically tortured himself studying.

Tone: positive (praise).

Sun Jing tied his hair to a roof beam to stay awake, and Su Qin jabbed his thigh with an awl.

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