抽絲剝繭

lit. to spin silk from cocoons / fig. to make a painstaking investigation (idiom)

to draw out / to pull out from in between / to remove part of the whole / (of certain plants) to sprout or bud / to whip or thrash

to spin silk

silk / thread / trace / (cuisine) shreds or julienne strips / CL:條|条[tiao2] / classifier: a thread (of cloud, smoke etc), a bit, an iota, a hint (of sth) etc

to peel / to skin / to shell / to shuck

to peel / to skin / to flay / to shuck

cocoon / callus

(bound form) cocoon / (bound form) callus (variant of 趼[jian3])