苦kǔ

Ⅰ  ❶ （像胆汁或黄连的味道） bitter: 这药 ～ 极了。 This medicine tastes very bitter.
❷ (难受的； 痛苦的) painful; hard: 愁眉 ～ 脸 distressed looks; have a worried look
❸ [方] (除去得太多； 损耗太过) (cut off) too much: 指甲剪得太 ～ trim one's nails too short; 树枝修得太 ～ 了。 The trees are overpruned. Ⅱ ❶ (难受； 痛苦) hardship; suffering; pain: 吃 [怕] ～ bear [fear] hardship; ～ 里生， 甜里长 be born in misery but brought up in happiness; 诉 ～ air one's sufferings; 他在旧社会受尽了 ～。He went through all kinds of hardships in the old society.
❷ （姓氏） a surname: ～ 灼 Ku Zhuo Ⅲ  ❶ (使痛苦； 使难受) cause sb. suffering; give sb. a hard time: 这事可 ～ 了他了。 This matter really gave him a hard time.
❷ （苦于） suffer from; be troubled by: ～ 旱 suffer from drought Ⅳ  (有耐心地； 尽力地) painstakingly; doing one's utmost: ～ 读 study hard; ～ 留 try hard to ask sb. to stay; ～ 劝 earnestly advise [exhort]; 勤学 ～ 练 study and train hard
◆苦差 hard and unprofitable job; 苦楚 suffering; misery; distress; 苦处 suffering; hardship; difficulty; 苦大仇深 have suffered bitterly in the old society and have a deep class hatred; (She) has been through much bitterness (and is thirsting for revenge).; have had one's fill of suffering in the past and have nursed a deep hatred; suffer bitterly and nurse a deep hatred; 苦胆 gall; gall bladder; 苦读寒窗 persevere in one's studies in spite of hardships; 苦恶鸟 white-breasted water rail; 苦干 bang away at; be [keep] at it; work hard; 苦工 moil; hard work; manual work; hard labour; 苦功 hard work; painstaking effort; 苦瓜 ｛植｝ balsam pear; Momordiea charantia; bitter gourd; 苦果 bitter pill; 苦海 sea of bitterness; abyss of misery; a sea of woes; 苦海无边， 回头是岸 Boundless is the sea of bitterness, yet a man who will repent can reach the shore nearby — escape from the human world of woes and find salvation.; 苦寒 bitter cold; 苦尽甘来 All sufferings have their reward.; After suffering comes happiness.; After the bitter comes the sweet.; Luck comes after hardship.;Bitterness ends, sweetness begins.; 苦口 (admonish) in earnest; bitter to the taste; 苦口婆心 do one's best to convince sb.; admonishing words and kind feelings; advise in earnest words and with good intentions; a tender remonstrance; (admonish) earnestly and maternally; try one's best to persuade; urge sb. time and again with good intentions; 苦苦 hard; strenuously; 苦苦哀求 beg very hard; beg piteously; beg sb. in a hundred ways; beseech sb. bitterly; entreat piteously; implore bitterly; implore urgently; make an earnest request of sb.; press [push] one's suit on one's knees; 苦乐观 viewpoint on hardship and happiness; 苦力 [旧] coolie; cooly; 苦楝 bead tree; melia azedarach; 苦练 practice hard; drill diligently; 苦闷 depressed; dejected; feeling low; gloomy; ademonia; 苦难 suffering; misery; distress; tribulation; 苦难深重 be in deep distress; be in the abyss of bitterness [misery]; be in the depth of misery; 苦恼 vexed; worried; distressed; tormented; troubled; 苦肉计 the ruse of inflicting an injury on oneself to win the confidence of the enemy; a trick of having oneself tortured to win the confidence of the enemy; a trick to gain an end by enduring bodily suffering; the ruse of self-injury to win sb.'s confidence; the trick of securing the enemy's faith by intentionally injuring oneself; 苦涩 bitter and astringent; harsh to the taste; pained; agonized; anguished; 苦水 bitter water; brackish water; gastric secretion, rising to the mouth; suffering; bitterness; misery; 苦思 think hard; cudgel one's brains; languish for; 苦思冥想 cudgel [rack] one's brains for ideas; deliberate a question time and again; think hard; be lost in deep [hard] thinking; puzzle over; put that in one's pipe and smoke it; 苦痛 pain; suffering; 苦头 suffering; hardship; 苦味 bitter taste; amargoso; amargosa; acrimony; 苦味酸 {有化} picric acid; trinitrophenol; 苦夏 loss of appetite and weight in summer; 苦笑 forced smile; wry smile; bitter smile; produce a forced smile; 苦辛 cosin; brayerin; koussin; coussin; kosin; 苦心 trouble taken; pains; 苦心孤诣 try hard to (do); make [have; register] a notable achievement after extraordinarily persistent and painstaking efforts; make extraordinarily painstaking efforts; 苦心经营 master￣ mind with painstaking effort; be elaborative in the undertaking; manage painstakingly; painstakingly build up (an enterprise, etc.); rack one's brain for ways and means to try making the enterprise a success; 苦行 {宗} ascetic practices; life of self-denial and mortification; 苦行僧 a person who lives a life of self-denial and mortification; ascetic monk; 苦学苦干 study hard and work hard; study and work hard; 苦役 hard labour; penal servitude; 苦于 suffer from (a disadvantage); trouble; (of life, etc.) be more bitter than; 苦雨 continuous rain; 苦战 wage an arduous struggle; struggle hard; 苦中作乐 enjoy life though hard up; enjoy in adversity; enjoy ... in the midst of sorrow and adversity; enjoy oneself despite poverty; find happiness in suffering; 苦衷 difficulties [troubles] that one is reluctant to discuss or mention; 苦竹 {植} bitter bamboo; 苦主 the family of the victim in a murder case