零碎 (língsuì) — fragmentary; odds and ends

Characters in this word

Strokes: 13
Radical: 雨 — rain
Made of: 雨 rain 令 command, decree, order
How it's built: Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound

Strokes: 13
Radical: 石 — stone, rock, mineral
Made of: 石 stone, rock, mineral 卒 soldier
How it's built: Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound

他把零碎的观察记录整理成一份系统报告，才让问题的轮廓逐渐清晰。 Tā bǎ língsuì de guānchá jìlù zhěnglǐ chéng yí fèn xìtǒng bàogào, cái ràng wèntí de lúnkuò zhújiàn qīngxī. He organised the fragmentary observation notes into a systematic report, only then making the outline of the problem gradually clear.
抽屉里放着一些零碎的东西，比如纽扣、别针和旧钥匙。 Chōuti lǐ fàng zhe yìxiē língsuì de dōngxi, bǐrú niǔkòu, biézhēn hé jiù yàoshi. The drawer holds assorted odds and ends, such as buttons, pins and old keys.
我每天只有一些零碎的时间，只能用来背几个单词。 Wǒ měitiān zhǐ yǒu yìxiē língsuì de shíjiān, zhǐ néng yòng lái bèi jǐ gè dāncí. I only have scattered bits of time each day, enough to memorise just a few words.