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人海 (rén hǎi) — a sea of people; a huge crowd

Definition

A metaphorical 'sea of people' — emphasizes overwhelming, undifferentiated crowds where individuals disappear. literally renders as 'a sea of people' and is used in writing or news for packed public spaces.

noun
a sea of peoplea huge crowd

Examples

  • ，人海。
    Guó qìng jié nà tiān, guǎng chǎng shàng chéng le yí piàn rén hǎi.
    On National Day, the square became a sea of people.
  • 人海，。
    Zài rén hǎi zhōng, wǒ yì yǎn jiù kàn dào le tā.
    In the sea of people, I spotted her at a glance.
  • ，人海。
    Dì tiě zhàn lǐ jǐ mǎn le rén, zhēn shì yí piàn rén hǎi.
    The subway station was packed with people — truly a sea of people.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

人rénpeople
海hǎisea

人 means people and 海 means sea, making a huge crowd a sea of people.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
每
每měi海hǎi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

海 pairs 氵 (water) with 每, which gives the sound. The 氵 side shows it is about water.

Open 海 →
Appears in
People (General)

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