1.
polishing; careful revision; refining one's writing
The process of repeatedly reviewing and improving a piece of writing, choosing words and phrases with care. Derived from a Chinese anecdote about a poet who agonized over whether to use the character 推 (push) or 敲 (knock) in a line of poetry.
文章を推敲する。
To polish a piece of writing.
何度も推敲を重ねた。
I went through many rounds of revision.
提出する前に、もう一度推敲してから送りましょう。
Before submitting, let's polish it one more time and then send it.
推敲 means to carefully revise and polish a piece of writing, choosing each word with deliberation. Used as a suru verb.
ETYMOLOGY:
From a famous Tang dynasty anecdote: the poet 賈島 agonized over whether to use 推 (push) or 敲 (knock) in a line of poetry. The two kanji together came to mean careful word choice.
COMMON PATTERNS:
- 推敲する: to revise/polish
- 推敲を重ねる: to revise repeatedly
- 推敲を加える: to apply revisions
- 文章を推敲する: to polish a piece of writing
USAGE:
Used mainly for written text. Implies careful, thoughtful revision rather than casual proofreading.
HOMOPHONE NOTE:
遂行 means 'execution/carrying out' — same reading but completely different kanji and meaning.