穿せん鑿さく

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', transitive verb

prying; probing; digging into

Used for intrusive questioning or investigation into someone's private matters. Often carries a negative nuance of meddling. The kanji 穿鑿 literally means 'drilling and chiseling', metaphorically extended to prying.

See also: 詮索

• 彼かれは人ひとの過か去こを穿せん鑿さくするのが好すきだ。

  He likes to pry into people's pasts.

• そんなに穿せん鑿さくしないでください。

  Please don't probe so much.

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', transitive verb

excavation; digging

Obsolete literal sense of digging or excavating. In modern Japanese, 発掘 (はっくつ) is used instead. This sense is only encountered in historical texts.

• 古こ文ぶん書しょには、地じ面めんを穿せん鑿さくして井い戸どを掘ほったと記しるされている。

  Ancient documents record that they dug into the ground to make a well.